UNRWA chief denies knowledge that suspended teacher led Hamas branch in Lebanon

The head of UNRWA, Philippe Lazzarini, on Monday, claimed he was not aware the leader of Hamas’ Lebanon branch was an employee of the UN Relief and Work Agency for Palestinian refugees.

The Hamas commander in Lebanon Fatah Sharif Abu al-Amin, who was responsible for coordinating Hamas’ activity with Hezbollah forces in Lebanon, was eliminated in an Israeli strike in southern Lebanon on Sunday night.

Hamas described Abu al-Amin as a “successful teacher and excellent [school] principal.”

According to the IDF, al-Amin was responsible for Hamas’ “force build-up efforts in Lebanon, in the field of recruiting operatives and procuring weapons.”

In March, al-Amin was suspended from his job at UNRWA, Lazzarini told the press in Geneva, Switzerland.

“The specific allegation at the time was that [he was] a part of the local leadership… I never heard the word commander before,” he said. “What’s obvious for you today, was not obvious yesterday.”

According to UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric, the United Nations had put el-Amin on administrative leave without pay “as soon as UNRWA received information about his possible involvement with Hamas at a senior level.”

“As soon as information was received – in this case, from the Israeli government – action was taken,” Dujarric told reporters. “Every time UNRWA has received information beyond just a name, action has been taken.”

“Anyone who works for the UN and engages in terror, terror-like activity is unacceptable and outrageous and an insult to all UN staff members around the world,” Dujarric added.

Lazzarini denied the allegations against al-Amin and urged UN member states to push back against what he referred to as "Israeli attacks" on UNRWA.

He said he had called on states to "push back against all reputational attacks on the agency and the ongoing drafting of bills that could be adopted in Jerusalem."

These bills are a declaration by the Israeli Knesset that UNRWA is a “terrorist body.” The move, which has already received preliminary approval, would be “absolutely unconscionable,” Lazzarini alleged.

Earlier this year, Israel provided the UN with a list of more than 100 employees with a connection to Hamas, but UNRWA only investigated 19 of its staff members. At least 12 UNRWA employees played an active role in the Oct. 7 Hamas massacre in southern Israel, while 30 employees assisted in committing atrocities against Israelis, and as many as 12% of the UNRWA staff in Gaza – more than 1,000 – are affiliated with Hamas or other terror organizations.

UNRWA only fired nine employees in August for their role in the Oct 7 massacre.

However, the UN relief agency has refused to lift the immunity of the dismissed employees, making it difficult to prosecute them.

The al-Amin case is not the first time UNRWA has claimed ignorance about the terrorist activities of its own employees. In February, when the IDF discovered a Hamas terror intelligence center directly beneath UNRWA headquarters in Gaza City, Lazzarini posted on 𝕏: “UNRWA did not know what is under its headquarters in Gaza.” 

“UNRWA is a human development and humanitarian organisation that does not have the military and security expertise nor the capacity to undertake military inspections of what is or might be under its premises,” he added.

Established in 1949, UNRWA is the only UN refugee agency dedicated exclusively to serving a specific population group.