While the head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees is coming under renewed pressure from Israel over his organisation’s alleged links to Hamas, he has also faced scrutiny over his decision to sack employees before the completion of any investigation, Al Jazeera reports.

On Friday, the Guardian newspaper reported that UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini acknowledged during a press conference that he had followed “reverse due process” when he fired nine staff members accused by Israel of involvement in Hamas’s 7 October attacks.

“Indeed, I have terminated without due process because I felt at the time that not only the reputation but the ability of the entire agency to continue to operate and deliver critical humanitarian assistance was at stake if I did not take such a decision,” Lazzarini was quoted as saying.

“My judgement, based on this going public, true or untrue, was I need to take the swiftest and boldest decision to show that as an agency we take this allegation seriously.”