A top United Nations official in the Gaza Strip was elected last month to join Hamas’ political bureau, an Israeli think tank reported on Sunday.

The Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center claimed that Muhammad al-Jamassi was one of 15 new bureau members to be selected. Al-Jamassi serves as board chairman of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency’s engineering department for refugee camps in central Gaza, and runs the refugee agency’s infrastructure projects there.

He has held numerous leadership positions in Hamas since at least 2007, the center said, including with Hamas’ public relations department and for the terrorist organization’s affiliated charities.

Also elected in last month’s leadership contest was Suhail al-Hindi, a principal at a UNRWA-run elementary school. UNRWA suspended al-Hindi after being informed of his new role by the Israel Defense Forces. The refugee agency initially rejected the Israeli charge before changing its mind and suspending al-Hindi, although UNRWA spokesman Chris Gunness maintained that the suspension was based on its own investigation.

Accusations of ties to Hamas have long dogged UNRWA. Hamas weapons were found in UNRWA schools at least three times during the 2014 war between Hamas and Israel. In one case, the agency returned rockets found in one of its schools to Hamas. Gunness spoke at an event in 2015 sponsored by Interpal, a British charity organization that the U.S. Treasury Department designated a terrorist entity in 2008 due to its financial support for Hamas.

UNRWA is not the only UN agency with demonstrated ties to Hamas. Last August, Waheed Borsh, an engineer with the United Nations Development Program, was arrested by Israel’s domestic security service and charged with using his position to help Hamas build and maintain its terrorist infrastructure, such as tunnels and jetties.

[Photo: Wissam Nassar / Flash90]