UN Staff Protest Killing of Aid Workers in Gaza
According to the English section of webangah News Agency, citing Mehr News Agency, hundreds of United nations staff rallied on Thursday in Geneva to protest the killing of their fellow aid workers in Gaza.
the exhibition came amid ongoing Israel-Hamas hostilities as October 7, 2023. According to UN data,543 humanitarian workers have been killed in Gaza,including 373 UN employees and team members.This is the highest number of aid worker deaths recorded in the UN’s 80-year history, marking its deadliest crisis for personnel.
At the protest, UN staff carried placards with slogans such as “Peace for Gaza” and “We Are Not Targets.” They laid more then 370 white roses beside a memorial plaque in Geneva; each rose represented one aid worker who lost their life during this conflict. Nathalie minty, Chair of the united Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Staff Council, told Reuters at the event: “Today, UN staff have gathered to say enough is enough-to say you cannot kill our colleagues in Gaza with such impunity and license-and to call for an end to these killings.”
Reuters reports that documents reveal both the United States and Israel have sent complaint letters to senior UN officials questioning the neutrality of its staff regarding the Gaza war. These letters form part of diplomatic pressures on the UN which critics argue aim at silencing protests over humanitarian worker casualties.
The demonstration took place against a backdrop where Gaza’s war-triggered by Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7, 2023-has become one of the deadliest conflicts for aid workers. The United Nations has warned that without proper protection for humanitarian personnel, delivering assistance to over two million residents facing famine risk and collapsing health services will be impossible.
