The United Nations reported Friday that 2024 is already the deadliest year on record for humanitarian workers, with more aid staff, health care personnel, and delivery workers killed than ever before.
The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said bloodshed in the Middle East is the leading cause of the 281 deaths recorded globally so far, surpassing last year’s total of 280.
"Before the year is even over, 2024 has set a grim record for humanitarian personnel worldwide," OCHA spokesperson Jens Laerke said in Geneva.
Laerke praised the courage and selflessness of workers in conflict zones such as Gaza, Sudan, Lebanon, and Ukraine. "They represent the best of humanity, yet they are being killed in return – at record numbers," he said.
"These numbers will send shockwaves through the humanitarian community, especially those on the front lines," he added.
The U.N. said the figures are from the Aid Worker Security Database, a U.S.-funded project managed by the U.K.-based group Humanitarian Outcomes.
Of the 281 humanitarians killed – including personnel from non-U.N. organizations like the Red Cross and Red Crescent – 268 were national staff, while 13 were international staff.
The database reported Friday that 230 aid workers were killed in the occupied Palestinian territories. It did not specify whether the deaths occurred in Gaza or the West Bank.
Laerke said 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 other regions.
OCHA reported that 333 humanitarians have been killed since Tel Aviv launched its rampage on Gaza following Hamas' Oct. 7 incursion on southern Israel.
The death toll in Gaza from the 13-month conflict has surpassed 44,000 with more than half of the fatalities being women and children, local health officials said Thursday.
