From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, August 19, 2025
UN: Record 383 aid workers killed in global hotspots in 2024, nearly half in Gaza
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A record 383 aid workers were killed in global hotspots in 2024, nearly half of them in Gaza during the war between Israel and Hamas, the United Nations humanitarian office says as it marks the annual day honoring the thousands of people who step into crises to help others.
UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher says the record number of killings must be a wake-up call to protect civilians caught in conflict and all those trying to help them.
“Attacks on this scale, with zero accountability, are a shameful indictment of international inaction and apathy,” Fletcher says in a statement on World Humanitarian Day. “As the humanitarian community, we demand — again — that those with power and influence act for humanity, protect civilians and aid workers and hold perpetrators to account.”
The Aid Worker Security Database, which has compiled reports since 1997, says the number of killings rose from 293 in 2023 to 383 in 2024, including over 180 in Gaza.
Most of the aid workers killed were national staff serving their communities who were attacked while on the job or in their homes, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, known as OCHA.
So far this year, the figures show no sign of a reversal of the upward trend, OCHA says.
There have been 245 major attacks in the past seven-plus months, and 265 aid workers have been killed during that time, according to the database.
“Even one attack against a humanitarian colleague is an attack on all of us and on the people we serve,” the UN’s Fletcher says. “Violence against aid workers is not inevitable. It must end.”
There were 599 major attacks affecting aid workers last year, a sharp increase from the 420 in 2023, the database’s figures show. The attacks in 2024 also wounded 308 aid workers and saw 125 kidnapped and 45 detained.
According to the database, violence against aid workers increased in 21 countries in 2024 compared with the previous year, with government forces and affiliates the most common perpetrators.
Lebanon, where Israel and Hezbollah terrorists fought a war last year, saw 20 aid workers killed compared with none in 2023.
The Times of Israel Community.