The world observes World Humanitarian Day, but this year the occasion is overshadowed by deep wounds from Gaza, where the land has become the site of ongoing genocide by the Israeli occupation for over 22 months.
At the heart of this tragedy, hundreds of humanitarian workers have paid with their lives, demonstrating unmatched courage and dedication in serving the afflicted.
UN Secretary-General spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric stated in a press briefing in New York that at least 390 humanitarian workers were killed globally in 2024, including 181 in the Gaza Strip alone.
He confirmed that attacks on aid teams are no longer exceptions but have become “routine” in an era where disasters intersect with the international community’s failure to protect those who reach out to help victims.
In Gaza, aid workers continue their mission despite struggling to feed themselves and their families. They face hunger and death bare-chested, living in a constant reality of danger and bombing, fighting a dual battle: saving lives amid massacres and surviving deprivation and starvation.
The casualty figures expose the enormity of this ongoing crime 62,064 killed, 156,573 injured, the majority of whom are women and children, over 9,000 missing, hundreds of thousands displaced, and a famine that has claimed the lives of 266 people, including 112 children.
Despite repeated calls from the United Nations and International Court of Justice orders to halt the genocide, the Israeli occupation persists in targeting civilians and obstructing aid efforts. This reflects a complete absence of political will among world powers to end the catastrophe.
Unless the international community acts urgently to protect civilians and humanitarian workers in Gaza, history will remember this silence as complicity in the crime.
