The UN agency has denied any connection to Al Qiq's missile activities, which took place about three kilometers from his school. But Palestinian sources said Al Qiq, who left a wife and five children, led Jihad's so-called engineering unit, which assembled projectiles and bombs.

The sources said Al Qiq, a university graduate who majored in physics, oversaw missile and rocket production at night at a Rafah workshop. Over his eight-year teaching career, Al Qiq met senior UN officials including John Ging, Gaza operations director.

UN staffers have included several members of the Palestinian insurgency leadership in the Gaza Strip. Former PA Interior Minister Said Siyam, today a leader in Hamas, was an UNRWA teacher.

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