Israel says it killed Hamas commander who doubled as U.N. aid worker

JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Israel’s military said on Thursday it killed a Hamas commander who took part in the Oct. 7, 2023, assault on southern Israel and also worked for the U.N. aid agency in the Gaza Strip.

The agency, UNRWA, has been accused by Israel of having many employees who double as members of Hamas and other armed groups. The U.N., after an investigation, said in August that nine UNRWA staff were possibly involved in the Oct. 7 attacks and fired them.

The Israeli military said Mohammad Abu Itiwi was killed on Wednesday. It said he was a Hamas commander and had been involved in the murder and abduction of Israeli civilians. It also said he had been employed by UNRWA since July 2022 and that his name appeared on a list of the agency’s employees.

UNRWA confirmed Itiwi was a staff member and was killed on Wednesday. It said Itiwi’s name was included in a letter UNRWA received from Israel in July that included a list of 100 staff members who were also allegedly members of armed groups, including Hamas.

“The UNRWA commissioner general responded to that letter immediately stating that any allegation is taken seriously. He urged (the government of Israel) to cooperate with the agency by providing more information so he could take action. To date, UNRWA has not received any response to that letter,” said Juliette Touma, UNRWA’s director of communications.

UNRWA provides education, health and aid to millions of Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. It has long had tense relations with Israel but relations have deteriorated sharply since the start of the war in Gaza and Israel has called repeatedly for UNRWA to be disbanded.

“Israel has requested urgent clarifications from senior UN officials and an urgent investigation into the involvement of UNRWA employees in the Oct. 7 massacre,” said Israeli military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari.

(Reporting by Ari Rabinovitch; Editing by Alistair Bell and Daniel Wallis)