The UN reported that a record number of humanitarian aid workers were attacked last year. More than half of the 350 aid workers killed lost their lives in Gaza.
According to the ‘Aid Worker Security Database’—funded by Canada and Australia, which tracks major security incidents involving aid workers—907 aid workers were killed, injured, or abducted in 2025; the figure was 833 the previous year.
Of these, 350 were killed, a figure slightly lower than the record 387 deaths recorded in 2024.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres described the scale of this violence as ‘appalling.’ He called on nations to adhere to the rules of war and to hold perpetrators accountable.
Speaking ahead of events marking ‘World Humanitarian Day’—which included lowering flags to half-mast in New York and Geneva in memory of the fallen—he said, “Serving others has become far more dangerous than ever before.”
Database figures indicate that Gaza was the deadliest location for aid workers in 2025, with 186 humanitarian workers killed there last year. Sudan followed closely behind. UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, reported that at least 393 of its staff members have been killed in the region since the Israel-Gaza war began on October 7, 2023.
Israel has presented evidence alleging that employees of the refugee agency participated in the Hamas-led attacks of October 7. Those attacks resulted in the deaths of approximately 1,200 people—mostly civilians—and the abduction of 251 others. Israel claims the agency is rife with members of Hamas and other terrorist groups, though it also maintains that it exercises the utmost caution to avoid harming aid workers and civilians. Bushra Khalidi, Oxfam’s Global Humanitarian Policy Lead, called for greater protection for aid workers, stating, “We are witnessing an attack on humanitarian action itself.”
