The chief of the UN Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA) Philippe Lazzarini denied knowing that its employee Fateh Sherif Abu el-Amin was a Hamas commander in Lebanon and called on states to push back against Israeli attacks on the agency, Reuters reports.

“The specific allegation at the time was that (he was) a part of the local leadership […] I never heard the word commander before,” he said. “What’s obvious for you today, was not obvious yesterday.”

UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said el-Amin had been on administrative leave without pay since March — “as soon as UNRWA received information about his possible involvement with Hamas at a senior level” — and had never been reinstated.