Hamas Leader in Lebanon Eliminated in Israeli Air Strike Was UNRWA Employee

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The leader of Hamas in Lebanon, who doubled up as a prominent educator employed by UNRWA — the UN agency solely dedicated to the descendants of Palestinian refugees — was killed in an Israeli air strike in the south of the country, Hamas confirmed on September 30.

Fathi al-Sharif was eliminated in a strike on his home near the city of Tyre, a Hamas statement confirmed. According to the IDF, al-Sharif was responsible for coordinating Hamas operations with Hezbollah in Lebanon as well as recruiting new members to the Iran-backed Palestinian terrorist organization.

Al-Sharif’s dual role as a Hamas terrorist leader and as head of UNRWA’s teachers’ union in Lebanon, where he also served as the principal of an UNRWA-run school, drew the attention of Dorothee Klaus, the director of UNRWA’s operation in Lebanon, in February 2023. After Klaus failed to persuade al-Sharif to resign his post, she referred the matter to UNRWA Director-General Philippe Lazzarini, who merely suspended him pending investigation for a period of three months. Al-Sharif was accused of violating the principle of neutrality through his affiliation with Hamas and of traveling to Turkey for meetings with Hamas leaders. UNRWA’s operations are extensively intertwined with Hamas, with several members of its staff in Gaza participating in the October 7 terrorist atrocities in southern Israel. According to the non-governmental organization UN Watch, al-Sharif praised the assault, posting the message “God is the Greatest” on his Facebook page.

Expert Analysis

“Often lost in the fog of this almost one-year-old war has been the fact that a sizable number of the attacks on Israel from Lebanon have been carried out by Palestinian terrorist groups in cooperation with Hezbollah. Hamas, for example, had a 5,000-strong force in Lebanon before October 7, while Palestinian Islamic Jihad had a 600-man unit attached to Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force. That the Hamas leader in Lebanon turned out to be a senior UNRWA figure shouldn’t surprise anyone who has followed how UNRWA and Hamas are joined at the hip in Gaza.” — Mark Dubowitz, FDD CEO

“This is an important reminder that UNRWA isn’t just a terror threat in Gaza. It collaborates with, enables, and supports terrorist organizations wherever it operates. We have sufficient evidence at this point not just for a permanent ban on aid but also for secondary sanctions to cut off the rest of UNRWA’s money flow.” — Richard Goldberg, FDD Senior Advisor

“For years, Hamas and other Palestinian terrorist organizations have been active in Lebanon. Specifically, Hezbollah has given support and guidance to Hamas and has integrated Palestinian terrorists into its ranks to carry out attacks against Israel. This collaboration allowed Hamas to leverage its relationship with Hezbollah, effectively establishing a second front in its conflict with Israel. Fathi al-Sharif was a key player in connecting Hamas and Hezbollah to this strategic approach.” —Joe Truzman, Senior Research Analyst and Editor at FDD’s Long War Journal