According to a report by the UN Humanitarian Office, 2024 was a record year for the number of humanitarian workers killed – 383 people, with almost half of the cases registered in the Gaza Strip amid the military confrontation between Israel and Hamas.
Tom Fletcher, the UN's humanitarian chief, said the rise in violence should serve as a wake-up call for greater protection for civilians in conflict zones and those providing assistance to them.
“Massive attacks that go unpunished demonstrate the irresponsibility and indifference of the international community,” the organization's representative said in a statement on the occasion of World Humanitarian Day.
“On behalf of the humanitarian sector, we reiterate our call on influential actors to uphold the principles of humanity, ensure the safety of civilians and NGO workers, and hold perpetrators of violence accountable.”
Data from the Humanitarian Worker Safety Database, which has been keeping statistics since 1997, shows that the number of deaths increased from 293 in 2023 to 383 in 2024, including more than 180 cases in Gaza.
Most of the fatalities were local employees helping their communities and were attacked while at work or at home, OCHA said.
According to the organization's representatives, current figures confirm a steady trend of increasing violence.
According to reports, there were 599 serious incidents involving humanitarian workers over the past year, exceeding the 2023 figure of 420 cases.
In 2024, 308 people were injured in attacks, 125 were captured and 45 were arrested.
Over the past seven months, 245 major attacks have been recorded, claiming the lives of 265 humanitarian workers.
One of the most tragic episodes was the attack in the city of Rafah in southern Gaza: Israeli troops fired on marked medical and rescue vehicles early in the morning of March 23, killing 15 people.
The bodies of the victims, along with the destroyed vehicles, were buried in a mass grave. Rescuers and UN staff were granted access to the scene only seven days later.
“Any attack on a humanitarian worker is an attack on our entire community and those we help,” Fletcher said.
“Violence against helpers is not inevitable. It must stop.”
According to statistics, in 2024, incidents involving the use of force against NGO employees increased in 21 countries, with government structures and groups associated with them being the main initiators.
The highest number of attacks occurred in the Palestinian territories (194), followed by Sudan (64), South Sudan (47), Nigeria (31) and Congo (27).
The second-highest death toll after Gaza and the West Bank was in Sudan, where the ongoing civil war has claimed the lives of 60 workers, more than double the 2023 toll of 25.
In Lebanon, where the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah escalated last year, 20 humanitarian aid workers were killed, although such incidents had not been previously recorded.
Ethiopia and Syria each recorded 14 deaths (roughly double the number from a year earlier), while in Ukraine the death toll rose from 6 to 13.
Sourse: breakingnews.ie
