RAMALLAH, August 20, 2025 (WAFA) - On World Humanitarian Day, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates honored the memory of humanitarian workers who have fallen in the line of duty worldwide, especially those who sacrificed their lives while carrying out their humanitarian and moral mission to save civilians in the occupied Palestinian territory, particularly in the Gaza Strip, amid the ongoing genocide and starvation that has continued for twenty three consecutive months.

According to United Nations reports, more than 500 humanitarian workers have been killed in Gaza since October 2023. This crime is yet another entry in the long record of war crimes of international law committed by Israel.

The Ministry stressed that statements of condemnation, no matter how strong, do not absolve the international community of its legal and moral responsibility to stop the ongoing starvation and genocide against our people. “Rather, they impose an urgent obligation to compel Israel to immediately halt its crimes and ensure compliance with international law,” said the ministry in a statement.

The Ministry called for urgent international action to protect civilians and humanitarian workers through binding measures that translate global consensus against genocide, annexation, and siege into action.

It warned that failure to act undermines international law and leaves humanitarian workers exposed to deliberate killing, arbitrary detention, denial of access, and life-threatening shortages. It affirmed that the targeting of humanitarian workers in Gaza is a grave crime and clear evidence of the occupation’s use of starvation as a weapon of war.

“Providing international protection for relief workers is a real test of the international community’s commitment to protecting civilians,” it said.

“On this day, we repeat: Humanitarian workers are not targets, and saving lives must never cost lives,” the statement concluded.

T.R.