The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs stressed Wednesday that protecting humanitarian workers is a legal and moral responsibility that falls on the international community, noting that more than 500 humanitarian workers have been killed in the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7, 2023, in a new crime added to the Israeli occupation's long record of war crimes and serious violations of international law.

The ministry stressed, in a statement marking the World Humanitarian Day - the commemoration of martyrs among humanitarian workers everywhere, especially those who died while performing their humanitarian and moral duty to save the lives of civilians in the occupied Palestinian territory, specifically in the Gaza Strip, in light of the war of extermination and starvation that has continued for the twenty-third consecutive month - that appeals and descriptions, no matter how strong, do not absolve the international community of its legal and moral responsibility to stop the ongoing famine and extermination against the Palestinian people. Rather, they impose an urgent duty on it, which is to compel the occupying entity to immediately stop its aggression, ensure its compliance with international law, and hold it accountable for the crimes committed against civilians and humanitarian workers.

The ministry emphasized that the occupation's continued impunity is what fuels these recurring crimes, calling for urgent international action to protect civilians and humanitarian workers and halt the crimes committed against them through immediate, binding measures that reflect the international consensus rejecting the war of genocide, annexation, and siege.

It also considered that the international community's failure to fulfill its responsibilities threatens the international legal system, replaces international legitimacy with the law of the jungle, and reduces the protection of humanitarian workers to mere slogans that do not protect them from the dangers they face daily, including deliberate killing and targeting, arbitrary detention, and being prevented from performing their humanitarian work, in addition to the severe shortage of supplies, food insecurity, and the loss of loved ones.

The Palestinian Foreign Ministry affirmed that targeting and killing humanitarian workers in the Gaza Strip is a full-fledged crime and clear evidence of the occupation's decision to use starvation as a weapon of war. It indicated that providing international protection to humanitarian relief workers in the Gaza Strip is a true test of the seriousness of countries and the international community in protecting civilians and confronting the policy of starvation. It emphasized that humanitarian workers are not targets, and saving lives should not cost lives.