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The Gaza director, Matthias Schmale, examines damage to the UNRWA building in Gaza after rocket attacks from Israel
Photo: STAFF / REUTERS
The UN Refugee Agency for the Palestinians (UNRWA) has dismissed its head in the Gaza Strip, the German Matthias Schmale, for an indefinite period.
This was announced by a UNRWA spokesman, according to the news agencies AP and Reuters.
His deputy, David de Bold, must also vacate the post, and UNRWA's Deputy Commissioner General Leni Stenseth will temporarily head the Gaza team.
"Persona non grata" at Hamas
The dismissals come after violent reactions from radical Islamic Hamas to an interview by Schmale.
In it he described the air strikes by the Israeli military on the Gaza Strip as "precise" and "sophisticated", among other things.
Hamas accused him of taking sides with Israel.
According to UNRWA, Schmale was then declared a "persona non grata", and security in Gaza can no longer be guaranteed for him and de Bold.
Schmale himself apologized for the statement after massive criticism and hostility on the net.
He wrote on Twitter that he did not want to lessen the suffering of the victims: "I sincerely regret having caused them pain." "Military precision and sophistication" could "not be a justification for a war," Schmale continued.
A spokesman for the United Nations Relief Agency told Israeli broadcaster Channel 12 that Schmale had been called back to Jerusalem for deliberations and had decided to take a longer leave of absence from his post.
In May there was new fighting between Israel and Hamas.
According to health workers, 254 Palestinians, including 66 children, were killed in the heavy rocket fire.
In Israel, according to doctors, twelve people were killed by rockets fired from the Gaza Strip.
mrc / AP
