Israel claims UN worker it shot dead in West Bank was a 'terrorist'

UN agency says the Palestinian was a sanitation labourer; he is among dozens killed in strike

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The UN agency for Palestinian refugees on Sept 13 said one of its employees was killed during an Israeli operation in the occupied West Bank, where raids have escalated since August.

Israel's military called the UN worker a "terrorist” who posed a threat to troops.

The United Nations agency, UNRWA, said the employee was its first to be killed in the Palestinian territory in more than a decade.

But he is among dozens of Palestinians killed during the largescale Israeli operation which began days ago and is ongoing, with several more Palestinians dead since Sept 11.

UNRWA identified the employee as Mr Sufyan Jaber Abed Jawwad, who worked as a sanitation labourer. It said he was "shot and killed on the roof of his home by a sniper" in Faraa refugee camp.

A military spokesman, Lieutenant-Colonel Nadav Shoshani, said on social media platform X that during an operation in Faraa, “a terrorist was identified hurling explosive devices that posed a threat" to forces, leading troops to open fire to remove the threat.

It was later "discovered he is also an UNRWA employee", Lt-Col Shoshani said.

The employee's death is in addition to those of six other UNRWA staffers the UN said were killed in the Gaza Strip on Sept 11 during a strike on a school-turned-shelter.