ISTANBUL

The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) refuted Thursday claims circulated in Israel and social media that an agency staff member was killed alongside Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in the Gaza Strip.

The reports have been denounced as part of a disinformation campaign to undermine the agency and its personnel.

“Once again, unchecked information is used to discredit UNRWA and its staff,” the group’s Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said in a statement on X.

Lazzarini confirmed that the staff member mentioned in the reports is alive and currently resides in Egypt.

“Earlier today, reports circulated on social and Israeli media that an UNRWA staff member was killed together with the Hamas head in Gaza,” he said. “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.”

Lazzarini emphasized the need to halt the spread of false information by Israel.

Earlier Thrusday, the Israeli army claimed to have killed Hamas political chief Yahya Sinwar in a military operation in Gaza.

Army spokesperson Avichae Adree confirmed “the elimination” of Sinwar in a statement on X.

The military admitted that there were no signs of the presence of hostages in the area where Sinwar was killed.

Sinwar was selected as Hamas’ political chief in August, replacing Ismail Haniyeh, who was assassinated in the Iranian capital of Tehran after he attended the swearing-in ceremony of Iran’s new president on July 31.

Israel has continued a brutal offensive on Gaza following a cross-border attack by the Palestinian resistance group, Hamas, on Oct. 7 last year, despite a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire.

More than 42,400 people have since been killed, mostly women and children, and an excess of 99,100 injured, according to local health authorities.

The Israeli onslaught has displaced almost the entire population of the Gaza Strip amid an ongoing blockade that has led to severe shortages of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its actions in Gaza.