UN Gaza staffer out after allegations of Hamas ties

The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees says a Gaza staffer suspected of being elected to the Islamic militant Hamas group’s leadership no longer works for the agency.

MENA

1 min read

The New Arab & agencies

23 April, 2017

Hamas rules the blockaded Gaza Strip [AFP file photo]

The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees says a Gaza staffer suspected of being elected to the Islamic militant Hamas group’s leadership no longer works for the agency.

Agency spokesman Chris Gunness says Saturday Suhail al-Hindi is no longer employed by the UN Relief and Works Agency.

He declined to say whether al-Hindi had quit or was fired, saying the agency doesn’t “discuss the terms of departure of individual staff members.”

In February, UNRWA suspended al-Hindi — the chairman of the agency’s Palestinian workers’ union — pending the results of an internal investigation sparked by Israeli accusations that the school principal was a member of Hamas’ new political leadership.

Al-Hindi denied links to Gaza’s rulers. More than two-thirds of Gaza's two million people depend on some form of foreign aid, with the Palestinian enclave hit by three wars against Israel since 2008 and remains under a decade-old Israeli blockade.

UN officials have called for the blockade to be lifted, citing deteriorating humanitarian conditions.

Hamas is listed as a terrorist organisation by the United States and most of Europe, but it is seen as a legitimate national liberation movement in Palestine and much of the Arab world.