UNRWA chief confirms no staff member with Sinwar following false Israeli claims

The chief of the UN agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA) has refuted claims that a member of its staff was killed alongside former Hamas head Yahya Sinwar in Gaza on Thursday.

Philippe Lazzarini rejected the claims in a post on X on Thursday, stating that "once again, unchecked information is being used to discredit UNRWA & its staff".

Israel has launched a concerted campaign to discredit UNRWA - which provides life-saving aid to millions of Palestinian refugees - since the war on Gaza began last October, with false claims that a member of the agency was killed during a firefight with the late Hamas leader.

"I confirm that the staff member in question is alive... he currently lives in Egypt where he travelled with his family in April through the Rafah border," " Lazzarini said.

"Time to put an end to disinformation campaigns."

The claims come after the Israeli army released a picture of the expired passport of UNRWA teacher Hani Zourob, with Israeli media claiming the man is a bodyguard for Sinwar and killed alongside him in Rafah on Thursday.

The false claims led some accounts on social media to call for a cessation of funding to UNRWA, which follows numerous Israeli claims about staffers being members of Hamas.

This includes allegations in January that 19 staffers were involved in Hamas' 7 October attacks on Israel that killed 1,200 people.

An investigation by the UN found that it was possible that nine staff members were involved, but that there was insufficient evidence to prove the involvement of the remaining staff.

The Israeli Knesset has since pushed a bill seeking to ban UNRWA from operating in Israel and end contact between the organisation and the government.

Both the EU and the US have warned against such a move, warning it could collapse aid distribution in Gaza although Washington and some European states blocked support for the agency following the 7 October claims.

The bill was highlighted in an official letter from the Biden administration to Netanyahu's government calling for it to increase the provision of aid into the enclave.

The letter, signed by Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin, said that the "enactment of such restriction would devastate the Gaza humanitarian response".

The Israeli government has also confiscated land where the UNRWA headquarters are located in occupied East Jerusalem, with plans to build 1,440 new settlement units on the land.

Around 228 members of UNRWA have been killed by Israel in Gaza, according to a report from the agency released on 13 October.

At least 42,500 Palestinians have been killed and a further 99,546 have been wounded by Israel in its war on Gaza.