NEW YORK, April 9: UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Tom Fletcher warned of an unprecedented escalation in the targeting of humanitarian workers, confirming that at least 326 aid workers were killed in 21 countries during 2025, bringing the total number of victims over the past three years to more than 1,010.
In a briefing to the UN Security Council on the protection of humanitarian workers and UN staff, Fletcher explained that more than 560 of those deaths occurred in Gaza and the West Bank over the past three years, along with 130 in Sudan, 60 in South Sudan, 25 in Ukraine, and 25 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
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He noted that the death toll has tripled over the past three years compared to the preceding period, stating that this escalation is not a mere coincidence but rather a collapse of the protection system.
He added that these humanitarian workers were killed while distributing food, water, shelter, and medicine, and died while traveling in clearly marked convoys and during missions directly coordinated with relevant authorities, indicating that these deaths reflect reckless disregard by parties to the conflict for the lives of humanitarian workers.
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