Hamas leader in Lebanon 'worked undercover as a teacher for UN refugee agency' before he was wiped out in Israeli airstrike

 The leader of Hamas in Lebanon worked for a UN refugee agency before he was killed in an Israeli strike, it has been revealed.

Fateh Sherif Abu al-Amin died in the Al-Buss refugee camp in Lebanon's southern city of Tyre in an attack by Israel's air force yesterday.

The group said al-Amin was killed with his wife, son and daughter in what it called a 'terrorist and criminal assassination'.

But the UN's agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, confirmed today that Sherif was employed as a teacher, prompting Israel to levy fresh accusations that it is tied to Palestinian militant groups. 

UNRWA said it had put the Hamas commander on 'administrative leave without pay' in March as it investigated allegations about his political activities, insisting it was committed to neutrality and works to prevent any such infiltration.

It comes after the UNRWA admitted in August that nine of its employees 'may have been involved' in the October 7 Hamas attack.

In a statement confirming his death, the IDF said Sherif 'led the Hamas terrorist organisation's force build-up efforts in Lebanon and operated to advance Hamas' interests in Lebanon, both politically and militarily'.

However, he was also cited as the principal of the UNRWA's Deir Yassin school and head of a prominent teacher's union before he was suspended in March.

His role as a teacher in a UN school is sure to lead to yet more criticism of the UNRWA by Israel, which had some of its funding withdrawn from Israel's allies after Tel Aviv claimed UNRWA employees were involved in Hamas October 7 attacks.

In August, the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) completed its investigation into the alleged involvement of 19 UNRWA staff members in the attacks.

'OIOS made findings in relation to each of the 19 UNRWA staff members alleged to have been 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 in order to take the actions that we're taking - which is to say, the termination of these nine individuals.'

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