Lebanon Hamas leader Fateh Sharif, who was killed Monday in an Israeli airstrike, was working undercover as a teacher at the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees. The Israeli attack on a Palestinian refugee camp in the ancient city of Tyre also left Sharif’s wife and two children dead. Israel said Sharif was the chief liaison between the Lebanon operations of Hamas and Hezbollah, The Telegraph reported.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) suspended Sharif from his position without pay last March due to an investigation into his parallel functions “that are in violation of the agency’s regulatory framework governing staff conduct”. Sharif died as Israel increased the scope of its operations in Lebanon to include central Beirut, where it managed to kill three leaders of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. (PFLP).
UNRWA told The Times of Israel on Monday that the UN investigation into Sharif’s non-teaching duties was continuing and that the Hamas leader remained on administrative leave without pay. Irate protesters congregated in front of the UNRWA’s Beirut office when Sharif was laid-off and demanded he be reinstated to his role in an organization that provides assistance to 5.6 million Palestinian refugees.
Israel accused 12 UNRWA employees in Gaza of participating in the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attack on Israel that resulted in the deaths of 1,200 people. The charge prompted many international donors to stop funding the UN group. The UNRWA responded with an investigation that revealed that nine of its employees “may have been” involved in the Oct. 7 massacre and they were fired. Since then, only the United States has denied its funding to the organization, The Telegram noted.
UNWRA employs 32,000 people in total, mostly Palestinians. The group admits that some of its staff may have allegiances to militant or terrorist groups and has expressed a desire to recapture some form of political neutrality while maintaining that 200 of its employees have been killed as a result of Israel’s ongoing military action in Gaza.
