Hamas leader killed in Lebanon was UN employee, agency confirms

A U.N. human rights group confirmed Hamas’ leader in Lebanon, who was recently killed by Israeli strikes, was their employee.

Fateh Sherif was killed Monday in an airstrike on the al-Bass refugee camp in the southern Lebanese city of Tyre, along with his wife and children.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) noted that Sherif had been on suspension with the organization since March but had not been fired.

"Fateh Al Sharif was an UNRWA employee who was put on administrative leave without pay in March and was undergoing an investigation following allegations that UNRWA received about his political activities," an UNRWA spokesperson said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

At the time, his suspension sparked widespread protests and strikes by teachers in Lebanon.

"Sherif was responsible for coordinating Hamas' terror activities in Lebanon with Hezbollah operatives. He was also responsible for Hamas’ efforts in Lebanon to recruit operatives and acquire weapons," the Israel Defense Force (IDF) and Israeli Security Agency (ISA) said in a joint statement.

"He led the Hamas terrorist organization's force build-up efforts in Lebanon and operated to advance Hamas' interests in Lebanon, both politically and militarily."

ISRAELI STRIKE KILLS HAMAS COMMANDER IN LEBANON

Israel alleges UNRWA is overrun with terrorist sympathizers, a claim the agency denies.

Sherif was the principal of the UNRWA-run Deir Yassin Secondary School in al-Bass and head of the UNRWA teachers’ union, which has around 2,000 teachers.

"Through that position, and as principal of a large UNRWA school, he was able to recruit operatives, and to brainwash generations of Palestinians to engage in terrorism," Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch,