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    He was the top U.N. official in Gaza. An Israeli TV interview cost him his post

    The U.N.'s Matthias Schmale reflects on his time as a leading international aid rep in Gaza. He departed UNRWA this week after offending Palestinians with his remarks on Israeli airstrikes.
    by Daniel Estrin Nov 18, 2021 5 minutes
    Children play at a school run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, known as UNRWA, where many displaced Palestinian families sought refuge in Gaza City amid daily airstrikes and bombardment by Israeli forces, on May 19.

    JERUSALEM — Matthias Schmale was the highest-ranking international representative based in the Gaza Strip before his tenure ended with a jolt.

    During the 11-day conflict this May between Gaza militants and Israel, Israeli warplanes bombed the roads surrounding his United Nations relief agency headquarters, targeting alleged underground militant tunnels, and sending part of a car flying into the courtyard of the U.N. compound.

    Then after the war, Schmale angered Gazans with an interview with Israeli in which he was perceived to be praising the "huge sophistication" and "precision" in Israel's strikes. His Palestinian employees protested outside the headquarters, and Hamas, the hard-line Islamist group that governs the territory, said its officers would no longer guarantee his safety. He left for Jerusalem at the beginning of June, never to return to Gaza.

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