REPORTS that a UN staff member was killed alongside Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar have been described as "disinformation" by the head of a UN agency.
On Friday, Israel claimed that Sinwar has been killed during a routine military patrol in Gaza.
However, in a statement on X/Twitter Philippe Lazzarini, the Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine (UNRWA), said that claims being spread on social media that a UNRWA teacher had died alongside Sinwar were inaccurate.
Once again, unchecked information is used to discredit @UNRWA & its staff. Earlier today, reports circulated on social & Israeli media that an UNRWA staff member was killed together with the Hamas head in Gaza. I confirm that the staff member in question is alive. He…
— Philippe Lazzarini (@UNLazzarini) October 17, 2024
He said: "Once again, unchecked information is used to discredit @UNRWA & its staff.
"Earlier today, reports circulated on social & Israeli media that an UNRWA staff member was killed together with the Hamas head in Gaza.
"I confirm that the staff member in question is alive.
"He currently lives in Egypt where he traveled with his family in April through the Rafah border.
"Time to put an end to disinformation campaigns."
Some Israeli media are now reporting that the staff member's passport was found with Sinwar's body.
The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sinwar was killed "while fleeing in panic" from Israeli troops.
Despite repeated claims from the Israeli government that Sinwar was hiding in underground tunnels using hostages as shields, he was found in a house in the Tal al-Sultan area of Rafah on Wednesday with a small number of guards and no hostages.
