A record number of aid workers have been killed this year, with the war in Gaza the biggest cause of the 281 deaths recorded globally, the United Nations said on Friday.

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the figure surpassed the previous annual record of 280 deaths, which was set in 2023.

At least 178 aid workers have been killed this year in the occupied Palestinian territories alone, including Gaza, while 25 have died in Sudan and 11 in Ukraine.

Such incidents have been compiled since 1997 by the Aid Worker Security Database, a US-funded project run by the UK-based group Humanitarian Outcomes.

“Humanitarians are working courageously and selflessly in places like Gaza, Sudan, Lebanon, Ukraine and so on,” OCHA spokesman Jens Laerke said.

“They show the best humanity has to offer, and they are getting killed in return — in record numbers.”

A total of 268 of the humanitarians killed — including from non-UN organisations such as the Red Cross and Red Crescent — were national staff, while 13 were international staff.

The duty to protect

The war in Gaza is “driving up the numbers”, according to OCHA, which said more than 320 humanitarian personnel have been killed since the latest conflict between Israel and Hamas erupted on 7 October 2023.

But 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.

“This violence is unconscionable and devastating to aid operations,” UN aid chief Tom Fletcher said in a statement.

“States and parties to conflict must protect humanitarians, uphold international law, prosecute those responsible, and call time on this era of impunity.”

OCHA also warned that violence against humanitarian personnel is part of a broader trend of harm to civilians in conflict zones. Last year, more than 33,000 civilian deaths were recorded in 14 armed conflicts — a 72% increase from 2022, the UN agency said.

Humanitarian organisations reached nearly 144 million people in need worldwide last year, and have reached at least 116 million so far in 2024, according to OCHA.

Additional sources • AP