Tel Aviv, 25 October 2024 (dpa/MIA) - The Israeli military on Friday said it killed a commander of Hamas' elite Nukhba unit who it said was also employed by the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA).

"Mohammad Abu Itiwi was a Nukhba commander in the Al Bureij Battalion of Hamas's Central Camps Brigade," Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari said. "He has also been employed by UNRWA since July 2022. We have the records to prove it."

Nukhba is a special unit within the military wing of Hamas.

Hagari said that Abu Itiwi was "struck and killed" by Israeli forces on Thursday.

He added that Abu Itiwi "commanded the attack on the bomb shelter in Re'im where young people fleeing from the Nova Music Festival were taking cover" during the October 7 attacks.

In the unprecedented terrorist attack launched by Hamas and others in October 2023, more than 1,200 people were killed in southern Israel and around 250 were taken hostage to the Gaza Strip. The massacre triggered the Gaza war.

"Israel has requested urgent clarifications from senior UN officials and an urgent investigation into the involvement of UNRWA employees in the October 7th Massacre," Hagari continued.

Israel accuses the UN organization, the main humanitarian aid provider in the Gaza Strip, of having been infiltrated by Palestinian militant organization Hamas. Several UNRWA employees are also said to have been involved in the October 7 attacks.

The UN also concluded that some of its employees were most likely involved in the massacre in Israel.

Photo: MIA archive