TIL Desk/World/Jerusalem-A United Nations agency said it was suspending a Gaza staffer accused of being politically active in the Islamist group Hamas, which rules the coastal strip. UNRWA, the UN agency in charge of Palestinian refugees, said the decision had already been taken ahead of an Israeli call earlier yesterday to fire Suhail al-Hindi, head of the agency’s staff union.
“Before that communication, and in light of our ongoing independent internal investigation, we had been presented with substantial information from a number of sources which led us to take the decision this afternoon to suspend Suhail al Hindi, pending the outcome of our investigation,” UNRWA spokeswoman Chris Gunness wrote.
COGAT, the Israeli defence ministry agency responsible for civilian affairs in the Palestinian territories, says that al-Hindi was appointed to the militant group’s leadership in a February 13 internal election. He was chosen “as a senior Hamas member from Jabalia in northern Gaza”, it said in an English-language statement. “He also holds positions as both the Chairman of the Association of Palestinian Workers of UNRWA since 2012 and as an elementary school principal in the Gaza Strip,” it added.
