Q: The head of the Teachers’ Union for UNRWA in Lebanon and the principal at an UNRWA school was killed in an Israeli airstrike. Hamas claimed him as one of their own, said he was their commander in Lebanon. Information about that gentleman had been brought to UNRWA’s attention several months ago by the UN Watch NGO. The gentleman was placed under suspension and an investigation launched. I’m trying to find out during the course of that investigation if any information was ever uncovered that this gentleman was a high-ranking Hamas operative, a commander, the commander in Lebanon. And secondly, I again ask, as I’ve asked before, how can the Secretary-General and the UNRWA Commissioner-General and other UN officials say credibly with a straight face that Hamas has not infiltrated UNRWA when the head of its… of all things, the Teachers’ Union and a principal turns out to be Hamas’ commander in Lebanon? How do those two things get reconciled? 🇺🇳: First of all, Fateh al Sharif was indeed an UNRWA employee. As soon as UNRWA received information about his possible involvement with Hamas at a senior level, he was immediately put on administrative leave without pay. This was back in March, and contrary to what information may be floating in social media or other places, he was never ever reinstated. So I just want to make that clear. You know, the Colonna report that the Secretary-General commissioned outlined a number of issues with the operations of UNRWA and made number of recommendations in order to ensure the neutrality of UNRWA and its staff. Those recommendations have been taken on board. And I could tell you that, first of all, the UN doesn’t… UNRWA like most employees doesn’t have an intelligence or police unit to investigate every staff member... As soon as information was received, in this case from the Israeli Government, action was taken. Every time UNRWA has received information beyond just a name, action has been taken and we’ll continue to do so. Q: And respectfully, this is not a low-level operative, and it wasn’t the brother of a plumber who knew somebody in Hamas. This was a Hamas commander in Lebanon. If UNRWA is not able to sniff this out over the course of years and with a multi-month investigation, how can it be trusted to do any other vetting of any kind? 🇺🇳: First of all, anyone who works for the UN and engages in terror-like activity is unacceptable and outrageous and an insult to all UN staff members around the world. In general terms, and I can’t speak specifically to this case, most people who are engaged in underground organizations try not to have their involvement known publicly. Q: By the way, he posted on social media for years about his Hamas involvement.