Suhail al-Hindi

Suheil Ahmad Hassan al-Hindi

UNRWA Between 2011 and 2017, al-Hindi was chairman of the UNRWA Palestinian workers' union (also called the Arab Employees Union) in Gaza and principal of the Palestine Boys' Elementary School, an UNRWA school.

UNRWA suspended al-Hindi in September 2011 for 3 months without pay for participating in a union event attended by Hamas officials including Deputy Chief of the Hamas Political Bureau Ismail Haniyeh and founder Ahmed Yassin. Israel has accused UNRWA of cooperating with militants. In protest of the suspension, the Arab Employees Union, which al-Hindi headed, held a sit-in at the main gate of Gaza City and closed all UNRWA facilities for 2 hours on 20 September, according to Hamas-affiliated Palinfo. According to Al Jazeera Arabic, al-Hindi's suspension was the straw that broke the camel's back in relations between Hamas and UNRWA, leading to Hamas publicly criticizing the agency. According to analyst Issam Adwan, Hamas had grown frustrated with recent UNRWA actions, including al-Hindi's suspension, measures related to teaching the Holocaust to Palestinian students, and refusal to employ political figures associated with Hamas. Israel alleged that al-Hindi was elected to the 20-member Hamas Political Bureau, the leadership body of Hamas, in a 13 February 2017 secret election. Al-Hindi denied reports of his election, as UNRWA forbids staff from holding political office. On 26 February, UNRWA suspended al-Hindi after receiving "substantial information."

Sometime after his election to the Political Bureau, al-Hindi moved from Gaza to Turkey, where he is under the protection of the Erdogan government, which supports Hamas.

Al-Hindi was chairman of the 2018–2019 Gaza border protests. August 2024, and April 2025. After the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Hanieyh, al-Hindi told the Washington Post that, "While his death will undoubtedly leave an impact, this wound will soon be healed."