Record humanitarian worker death toll — what can EU do?

2024 is on track to be the deadliest year for humanitarian workers on record, particularly for those based in their own countries. Already 192 humanitarian workers have been killed in 2024, 119 of whom were local staff, and the year is far from over yet.

This is in contrast to the 118 humanitarian workers who lost their lives in 2022.

This dramatic increase in the number of deaths of humanitarians is due overwhelmingly to those killed in Gaza since October 2023, a total of at least 274 humanitarians in the last 10 months. Indeed, the number of humanitarians who have lost their lives in the last 10 months in Gaza alone is higher than the total deaths of humanitarian workers around the world in the two years between 2021 and 2022. 

The continued complicity of the EU and US in violations of International Humanitarian Law (IHL), double standards, and the increasing politicisation of humanitarian support is fuelling this growing death count of humanitarian workers.

Caritas, a global network of 162 national relief and development organisations has tragically lost two national humanitarian workers in Gaza. Viola, a lab technician age 26, killed with her husband and infant daughter, and Issam Abedrabbo, a dedicated pharmacist and father, age 35, killed with two of his sons, leaving one daughter an orphan. 

These deaths are far from accidental.

Israeli forces have reportedly carried out at least eight strikes on humanitarian workers’ convoys and premises in Gaza since October 2023. These attacks occurred in spite of the fact that humanitarian agencies had provided their coordinates to the Israeli authorities to ensure their protection.

The attack in October of the St. Porphyrios Orthodox Church in Gaza, where it was made known that civilians were sheltering, resulted in the death of Caritas staff member Viola and her family.  

Divest from arms sales

This unprecedented loss of humanitarian workers has been compounded by a humanitarian system that is increasingly affected by political priorities. The EU and US continue to provide military support to Israel, including bombs that have resulted in the deaths of civilians and humanitarians in staggering numbers as well as other forms of material support such as projects that fund Israeli arms companies.

To live up to their values as principled humanitarian actors and to avoid being complicit in IHL violations, the EU and its member states must fully divest from military support to actors who violate IHL. Without this divestment, humanitarian diplomacy will continue to be undermined by states that on one hand condemn violations of IHL and on the other provide military and economic support to parties that perpetrate these IHL violations.   

It is increasingly national humanitarian staff who are at risk.

A 2024 Humanitarian Outcomes and Global Interagency Security Forum report reveals that the number of casualties experienced by national and local organisations has increased steadily over the past seven years and, in 2022, surpassed that of international NGOs.

Local and national organisations often have limited security risk management due to insufficient budget and procedures. Recently, USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance has implemented a policy that requires intermediary organisations channelling funding to local partners to ensure that these partners have security risk management procedures in place.

This is certainly a step in the right direction in protecting the safety of local staff. The EU and member states should adopt a similar policy and complement it with a willingness to financially invest in the procedures, staff costs, and other security-related risks faced by local and national organisations. 

Media invisibility 

In a humanitarian system that purports to want to localise humanitarian action, equity in accountability and media coverage related to deaths of humanitarian workers is essential. The deaths of national humanitarian workers receive significantly less media coverage than those of international humanitarian workers.

The killing of seven World Central Kitchen Staff in Gaza, most of them international workers, deservingly garnered international outrage. However, the deaths of 267 Palestinian humanitarian workers, many of whom are employed directly by or work as close partners of international donors and organisations, do not often reach the headlines of CNN, Politico or the BBC. This media invisibility further contributes to a culture of impunity where aggressors face little to no consequences for continued attacks on civilians and humanitarian operations.  

This lack of media coverage is also mirrored by the lack of international accountability faced by perpetrators of IHL violations, including attacks on humanitarian workers. Continued investment and support for international accountability mechanisms, including the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and International Criminal Court (ICC), is needed in the face of increasing attacks, for example by the US, who has recently put sanctions on several ICC staff.

Despite surging numbers of civilian and humanitarian casualties, it took four months for MEPs in January to finally agree to call for a conditional ceasefire and support for ICJ proceedings.

Accountability and coherence with the EU’s commitments to human rights is also lacking. The EU continues to be the largest trade partner of Israel, accounting for 28.8 percent of its trade in goods in 2022, despite a human rights clause in its Association Agreement with Israel.  

After such a shocking loss of life, we urge the EU and its member states to address the double standards that put humanitarian workers at increased risk.

We call for accountability for those killed in the line of duty, demand heightened media and political attention for the situations of local humanitarian workers and express our deepest solidarity with those who have lost their lives in service of others. In this way we can help to protect those who dedicate their lives to helping those in their own communities.