UN: More than half of the world’s humanitarian workers died in Gaza Strip

New York, (ST) – The United Nations denounced yesterday the unacceptable targeting of humanitarian workers, announcing that the Israeli occupation aggression on Gaza Strip caused the martyrdom of more than 163 humanitarian workers in the first three months of the agression, which is more than half of the victims recorded around the world last year, which amounted to 280 victims.

AFP quoted UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on the X platform as saying: In Gaza Strip and many other places, aid workers are being attacked, killed, injured and kidnapped. He called for an end to impunity and the prosecution of those responsible.

Guterres stressed that last year was the year that recorded the highest number of victims in the humanitarian community, and commemorating them on World Humanitarian Day is not enough.

In turn, the Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Joyce Msuya, said on the occasion of World Humanitarian Day: Silence on violence against humanitarian workers and the lack of accountability are unacceptable, unacceptable and extremely dangerous for humanitarian aid operations anywhere.

She pointed out that last year witnessed a record number of victims of humanitarian workers, which is 280 victims around the year, making 2023 the year with the highest number of victims since data began to be recorded in 1997.

According to this data, more than half of the victims in 2023, or 163, are humanitarian workers who were killed in Gaza Strip during the first three months of the war, most of them in airstrikes.

The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs stated that officials from a number of humanitarian organizations will send a joint message to UN member states demanding an end to attacks on civilians, the protection of all humanitarian workers and holding perpetrators accountable, calling on everyone to share this campaign on social media.

In turn, the World Health Organization (WHO) condemned the targeting of health care facilities around the world, recording 1,520 attacks during 2023 alone.

The Director-General of the organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus clarified via the “X” platform on the occasion of World Humanitarian Day that the organization monitored 1,520 attacks on health facilities in 2023 alone, as these attacks resulted in the martyrdom of at least 750 patients and health workers and the injury of 1,250 others.

It is worth noting that the Israeli occupation destroyed most of the medical facilities in Gaza Strip during its aggression on Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023, and targeted a large number of medical staff and paramedics.

Raghda Sawas