UNRWA confirms Hamas leader in Lebanon was its employee

The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees confirms that Fateh Sherif, named by Hamas as its leader in Lebanon, was employed by UNRWA, but notes that he was being probed over his political activities.

Sherif was killed today in an airstrike on the al-Bass refugee camp in the southern Lebanese city of Tyre, along with his wife and children. Reports indicate he had been the principal of the UNRWA-run Deir Yassin Secondary School in al-Bass.

“Fateh Al Sharif was an UNRWA employee who was put on administrative leave without pay in March, and was undergoing an investigation following allegations that UNRWA received about his political activities,” UNRWA says in response to a Times of Israel query.

In March, UNRWA told Reuters that Sherif had been suspended for three months over allegations of involvement in activities “that are in violation of the Agency’s regulatory framework governing staff conduct.”

At the time, the suspension sparked widespread protests and strikes by teachers in Lebanon.