Hamas leader in Lebanon ‘worked undercover as a teacher for the UN refugee agency’ before being wiped out in an Israeli airstrike
- Fateh Sherif Abu al-Amin died in Al-Buss refugee camp in Tyre, Lebanon
The leader of Hamas in Lebanon worked for a UN refugee agency before he was killed in an Israeli attack, it has been revealed.
Fateh Sherif Abu al-Amin died yesterday in the Al-Buss refugee camp in the southern city of Tire in Lebanon in an attack by the Israeli air force.
The group said al-Amin was killed along with his wife, son and daughter in what it called a “terrorist and criminal killing.”
But the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, confirmed today that Sherif was appointed as a teacher, prompting Israel to make new accusations that it had ties to Palestinian militant groups.
UNRWA said it placed the Hamas commander on “administrative leave without pay” in March as it investigated allegations about his political activities, stressing its commitment to neutrality and efforts to prevent such infiltration.
It comes after UNRWA admitted in August that nine of its employees “may have been involved” in the October 7 Hamas attack.
Fateh Sharif Abu al-Amin was killed along with his wife, son and daughter in what Hamas called a ‘terrorist and criminal killing’
Smoke rises after an Israeli attack on a village near the southern Lebanese city of Tire on September 29, 2024
Smoke rises after an Israeli attack on villages near the southern Lebanese city of Tire on September 29, 2024
In a statement confirming his death, the IDF said Sherif “directed the efforts of the terrorist organization Hamas in Lebanon and operated to advance Hamas’s interests in Lebanon, both politically and militarily.”
However, he was also named as principal of UNRWA’s Deir Yassin School and head of a prominent teachers’ union before being suspended in March.
His role as a teacher at a UN school is certain to lead to further criticism of UNRWA by Israel, some of whose funding was withdrawn from Israeli allies after Tel Aviv alleged that UNRWA staff were involved in Hamas’s attacks on October 7.
In August, the UN Office for Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) completed its investigation into the alleged involvement of 19 UNRWA staffers in the attacks.
“OIOS has made findings regarding each of the 19 UNRWA personnel allegedly involved in the attacks,” he said.
He added: ‘In one case, no evidence was obtained by OIOS to support the allegations of the staff member’s involvement, while in nine other cases the evidence obtained by OIOS was insufficient to support the staff member’s involvement.
“We have sufficient information to take the actions we are taking, which is to terminate these nine individuals.”
The UN admitted that nine employees of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) ‘may have been involved’ in the October 7 Hamas attack
UN spokesman Farhan Haq said: ‘We have sufficient information to take the actions we are taking – which is to terminate these nine individuals’
The United Nations launched the investigation after Israel accused a dozen UNRWA staff of taking part in the October 7 Hamas-led attacks that sparked the Gaza war.
All nine people the investigation concluded may have been involved in the October 7 attacks were men.
The UN spokesman did not provide details on what they may have done, but said: “For us, any participation in the attacks is a huge betrayal of the kind of work we are supposed to do on behalf of the Palestinian people.”
The United Nations launched the investigation after Israel accused UNRWA personnel of taking part in the October 7 Hamas-led attacks that sparked the Gaza war.
Israel further tightened its accusations in March, saying that more than 450 UNRWA employees were military agents of terrorist groups in Gaza.
UNRWA employs approximately 32,000 people in its area of operations, including 13,000 in Gaza.
UNWRA said in March that some workers released from Israeli detention in Gaza reported that they had been pressured by Israeli authorities and that staff had participated in the October 7 attacks.