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Bloodshed in the Middle East has been the single-biggest cause
of the 281 deaths among humanitarians globally this year,
according to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of
Humanitarian Affairs.
“Before the year is even over, 2024 has become the deadliest on
record for humanitarian personnel worldwide,” OCHA spokesman
Jens Laerke said. He told reporters in Geneva the figure
surpassed the previous record of 280 deaths for the whole of
last year.
Humanitarians "are working courageously and selflessly in places
like Gaza, Sudan, Lebanon, Ukraine and so on. They show the best
humanity has to offer, and they are getting killed in return —
in record numbers,” he said.
“These numbers will send shockwaves around the humanitarian
community, especially on the front lines of the response,” he
added.
The U.N. said the figures come from the Aid Worker Security
Database, a U.S.-funded project run by a Britain-based group
called Humanitarian Outcomes.
A total of 268 of the humanitarians killed — including from non-U.N.
organizations like the Red Cross and Red Crescent — were
national staff, while 13 were international staff.
Some 230 aid workers have been killed in occupied Palestinian
areas, the database showed Friday. It did not break out whether
that was Gaza or the West Bank.
Laerke said the threats to aid workers “extend beyond Gaza, with
high levels of violence, kidnappings injuries, harassment and
arbitrary detention" reported in Afghanistan, Congo, South
Sudan, Sudan, Ukraine, Yemen and elsewhere.
OCHA said a total of 333 humanitarians have been killed since
the latest conflict between Israel and the militant Hamas group
erupted when the militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct.
7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and
abducting another 250.
The death toll in the Gaza Strip from the 13-month-old war has
surpassed 44,000, local health officials said Thursday. The Gaza
Health Ministry does not distinguish between civilians and
combatants in its count, but it has said that more than half of
the fatalities are women and children. The Israeli military says
it has killed over 17,000 militants, without providing evidence.
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