Top Hamas commander killed in Lebanon was a UN employee on administrative leave, UNRWA says

GENEVA -- A Hamas top commander in Lebanon who was killed in an Israeli strike was a United Nations employee placed on administrative leave, said the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees.

Fatah Sharif was killed with his wife, son and daughter in an airstrike on Al-Buss refugee camp, one of 12 dedicated to Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, in the southern port city of Tyre on Monday. The Israeli military confirmed it had targeted him.

Sharif was not open about his affiliation with the Palestinian militant group and its armed wing.

Critics of UNRWA have repeatedly blasted it for not doing enough to root out Hamas militants from its ranks, and some seized on Sharif’s ties to both organizations.

Israel’s diplomatic mission in Geneva posted on X saying that Hamas announced Sharif's death, "And guess what was the second job of Mr Sharif? He was a principal, head of @UNRWA teachers association in Lebanon.” The mission added: “This case proves that there is a deep problem in @UNRWA, the way they do due diligence about who they are hiring.”

UNRWA spokesman Jonathan Fowler said Sharif “was an UNRWA employee who was put on administrative leave without pay in March and that he “was undergoing an investigation following allegations” the agency received "about his political activities.”

A Hamas statement praised Sharif for his “educational and jihadist work” and called him “a successful teacher and an outstanding principal” for generations of Palestinian refugees.

The UNRWA teachers’ union and other Palestinian groups had periodically staged protests in front of the U.N. agency's office in Beirut since Sharif’s suspension, alleging it targeted him for his political stances.

Earlier this month, the union staged a sit-in during a visit to Lebanon by UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini, saying it awaited “positive and fair outcomes” in the case of his suspension.