Seven of my colleagues were killed in Gaza. There and in Ukraine, aid workers are no longer safe
It now seems the 2024 attack on World Central Kitchen workers was a deliberate IDF tactic. The protections of the Geneva conventions have become paper thin
TL;DR
- International agreements protecting humanitarian aid and workers are being systematically ignored in Ukraine and Gaza.
- Russia has attacked Ukrainian healthcare targets over 3,200 times since February 2022.
- Over 1,000 humanitarian workers died in 21 countries in the past three years, with more than half in Gaza and the West Bank.
- The author's World Central Kitchen team was killed in Gaza by the IDF in April 2024, despite coordination.
- The IDF stated the airstrikes were a mistake, but a criminal investigation was not opened, suggesting a tactic of 'guilt by association'.
- The Fourth Geneva Convention was created to protect civilians and humanitarian needs during war.
- The author criticizes Israel's actions as falling short of its founding principles of righteousness, which should include humanitarian values.
- The collapse of protection for aid workers threatens the care of civilians in conflict zones.