UNRWA chief claims he didn’t know suspended employee was Hamas commander in Lebanon

By Reuters 30 September 2024, 7:04 pm 35 Edit

Hamas leader and UNRWA teacher Fateh Sherif abu el-Amin speaks at a protest in Beirut, Lebanon, on Mar. 27, 2024 after he was suspended, sparking protests. (Collin Mayfield/Sipa USA)

The chief of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees and their descendants (UNRWA) denies knowing that its employee Fateh Sherif Abu el-Amin was a Hamas commander in Lebanon, calling on states to push back against Israeli accusations against the agency.

The head of Hamas’s Lebanon branch, Abu el-Amin was killed along with family members in an Israeli strike in southern Lebanon, the terror group said earlier today. He was suspended from his job at UNRWA in March following allegations concerning his politics, Philippe Lazzarini tells reporters in Geneva.

“I never heard the word commander before,” he says. “What’s obvious for you today, was not obvious yesterday.”