Palestinians take wheat from a UN distribution center in the al-Bureij refugee camp in the Gaza Strip on December 10, 2023. (AP)

On Monday, the United Nations condemned the "unacceptable" levels of violence against humanitarian workers, noting that a record 280 were killed globally in 2023. The UN also warned that the ongoing war on Gaza could lead to even higher casualty numbers among aid workers this year.

In a statement on World Humanitarian Day the acting director of the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Joyce Msuya said "The normalization of violence against aid workers and the lack of accountability are unacceptable, unconscionable, and enormously harmful for aid operations everywhere."

"With 280 aid workers killed in 33 countries last year, 2023 marked the deadliest year on record for the global humanitarian community," a 137 percent increase over 2022, when 118 aid workers died, OCHA said in the statement.

What’s it like to be a girl or a woman in #Gaza following 10 months of war.
Here’s a glimpse but there’s much more:
* Women & girls can often spend months without taking a shower, going through several menstrual cycles without washing up.
* They have to cut their hair very… pic.twitter.com/SR4aJOmx7H
— Philippe Lazzarini (@UNLazzarini) August 15, 2024

The UN cited the Aid Worker Security Database, which has tracked these figures since 1997, in highlighting the alarming rise in violence against humanitarian workers.

The UN reported that 163 of the 280 aid workers killed in 2023 were in Gaza during the first three months of the war, primarily due to airstrikes. South Sudan and Sudan follow as the next deadliest conflicts for humanitarians, with 34 and 25 deaths respectively.

'Era of impunity'

"We demand an end to impunity so that perpetrators face justice," UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said.

Despite the "outrageously high number" of aid worker casualties in 2023, OCHA warns that 2024 could be on track for an even deadlier outcome. As of August 9, the Aid Worker Security Database reports that 176 aid workers have already been killed worldwide this year.

Since the start of the Israeli war on Gaza, more than 280 aid workers have been killed in Gaza, the majority of them employees of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, according to OCHA. Against this backdrop, leaders from various humanitarian organizations and UN agencies sent a letter to UN member states on Monday, urging an end to "an era of impunity" for violence against aid workers.

"Attacks that kill or injure civilians, including humanitarian and health-care personnel, are devastatingly common," said the letter, signed by groups including the World Food Programme and the International Committee of the Red Cross.

"Yet despite widespread condemnation, serious violations of the rules of war too often go unpunished."