Attacks on humanitarian workers reached a record level in 2025, with 907 aid workers killed, injured or kidnapped worldwide, according to the United Nations. The figure rose from 833 in 2024 as armed drones emerged as a growing threat in conflict zones. The United Nations issued the warning on World Humanitarian Day.<\/p>\n
Among those affected, 350 humanitarian workers were killed in 2025. The number was below the record 387 deaths recorded in 2024, but remained the second-highest annual toll ever documented by the Aid Worker Security Database. The database receives funding from the Canadian and Australian governments.<\/p>\n
United Nations Secretary-General Ant\u00f3nio Guterres said humanitarian work had become more dangerous than ever. His remarks came ahead of ceremonies in New York and Geneva held with flags lowered to half-mast.<\/p>\n
Gaza remained the deadliest location for humanitarian workers for the third consecutive year. A total of 186 aid workers were killed there in 2025, with airstrikes accounting for 68% of the deaths.<\/p>\n
Sudan recorded 71 humanitarian worker deaths, the highest figure ever reported in the country. Most were killed by small arms. The latest figures also marked the fifth consecutive year in which humanitarian worker deaths increased in Sudan.<\/p>\n
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, known as UNRWA, said at least 393 members of its staff had been killed since the start of the Israel-Gaza war on October 7, 2023. Philippe Lazzarini, the agency’s former head, said earlier this year that he was seeking to establish a high-level expert group to investigate the deaths.<\/p>\n
The violence has continued into 2026. Since the start of the year, 82 humanitarian workers have been killed, 97 injured and 39 kidnapped worldwide.<\/p>\n
Tom Fletcher, the United Nations humanitarian chief, identified the spread of low-cost armed drones as an emerging threat. He said the technology was placing the ability to kill in the hands of an increasing number of actors.<\/p>\n
In Sudan, armed drones were responsible for 80% of civilian deaths during the first four months of 2026. The attacks struck markets and health facilities. In Colombia, attacks involving militarized drones quadrupled between 2024 and 2025.<\/p>\n
Fletcher said more than 1,000 humanitarian workers had been killed in only three years. He called for states to uphold international humanitarian law and use every available mechanism to protect civilians and aid workers. He also called for those who violate the rules to face meaningful consequences.<\/p>\n
Bushra Khalidi, Oxfam’s global humanitarian policy lead, said the violence represented an attack on humanitarian action itself. She called for stronger protections for aid workers operating in conflict areas.<\/p>\n
The European Commission said it would honor its commitments as a donor. It also stressed that every humanitarian worker killed represents not only a personal tragedy but a failure by the international community to uphold its most basic commitments.<\/p>\n
The figures underline the growing risks facing humanitarian personnel as conflicts continue to expose aid operations to conventional weapons and new technologies. The United Nations is calling for stronger respect for international humanitarian law and greater accountability for attacks against civilians and humanitarian workers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Attacks on humanitarian workers reached a record level in 2025, with 907 aid workers killed,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5962,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[5457,2562,5456,5458,3607],"class_list":["post-5964","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international-news","tag-armed-drones","tag-gaza","tag-humanitarian-workers","tag-sudan","tag-united-nations"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zawaya24.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5964","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/zawaya24.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/zawaya24.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zawaya24.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zawaya24.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5964"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/zawaya24.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5964\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5965,"href":"https:\/\/zawaya24.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5964\/revisions\/5965"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zawaya24.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5962"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zawaya24.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5964"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zawaya24.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5964"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zawaya24.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5964"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}