On World Humanitarian Day, INEW warns that aid and health workers are being killed by explosive weapons in populated areas

Countries: World, Myanmar, occupied Palestinian territory, Sudan, Ukraine Source: International Network on Explosive Weapons Please refer to the attached file. World Humanitarian Day is marked each year on the anniversary of the 2003 bombing of the Canal Hotel in Baghdad, an explosive weapon attack that killed 22 aid workers. Twenty-three years on, humanitarian workers and civilians are still being killed by the same means, in the towns and cities where they work. The Explosive Weapons Monitor, found that attacks affecting humanitarian aid operations increased 52% in 2025 compared to the previous year. According to the Explosive Weapons Monitor 2025, the research initiative of the International Network on Explosive Weapons. Since 2022, Insecurity Insight has recorded more than 1,000 aid workers killed or injured by explosive weapons in populated areas: Attacks affecting humanitarian aid operations increased by 52 percent in 2025, to 2,541 incidents across 17 countries and territories, while a further 1,272 damaged or destroyed health facilities and ambulances or killed health workers. Almost 90 percent of the attacks on aid were recorded in Palestine, while incidents tripled in Myanmar and increased by 80 percent in Sudan. In Gaza, the most dangerous environment for aid workers, they were killed in convoys, in warehouses and in displacement camps and while distributing aid; health and rescue workers were killed in “double tap” strikes that hit those attending the casualties of an earlier attack. Attacks delivered from the air are becoming increasingly common: incidents in which aid workers were killed or injured by air-delivered explosive weapons increased from fewer than 30 in 2023 to more than 195 in 2025. The increasing use of these systems is shrinking humanitarian space, constraining humanitarian access, and heightening risks for aid workers, with civilians ultimately bearing the consequences through reduced access to essential assistance and protection.
2026-08-18 12:38:14