Türkiye calls for Israel to be held accountable on World Humanitarian Day

ANKARA

Türkiye marked World Humanitarian Day on Monday with a condemnation of Israel's ongoing offensive in Gaza, which has claimed over 40,000 lives in the last 10 months, emphasizing the need for accountability.

"We pay tribute to those who sacrificially serve in every corner of the world," the Turkish Foreign Ministry stated on X, honoring humanitarian workers.

The ministry accused Israel of committing crimes against humanity, asserting: "Having massacred more than 40,000 innocent Palestinians, mostly women and children, in Gaza, Israel continues to indiscriminately kill humanitarian aid workers and volunteers, especially UNRWA (the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees) staff."

Türkiye urged international courts to hold the Israeli government accountable, stressing: "On World Humanitarian Day, we reiterate that the bloody Netanyahu government must be held accountable as soon as possible."

World Humanitarian Day is an international observance dedicated to recognizing humanitarian personnel and those who have lost their lives working for humanitarian causes.

"With 280 aid workers killed in 33 countries last year, 2023 marked the deadliest year on record for the global humanitarian community," which reflects a 137 percent increase over 2022, when 118 aid workers died, U.N.'s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said in a statement on World Humanitarian Day.

"With 280 aid workers killed in 33 countries last year, 2023 marked the deadliest year on record for the global humanitarian community," which reflects a 137 percent increase over 2022, when 118 aid workers died, OCHA said in the statement.

It cited the Aid Worker Security Database, which has tracked such figures back to 1997.

The U.N. reported that more than half of the deaths in 2023, or 163, were aid workers killed in Gaza during the first three months of the war between Israel and Hamas, mainly due to air strikes.

Flouting a U.N. Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire, Israel has persisted in its brutal offensive on Gaza since the Oct. 7.

More than 10 months into the Israeli onslaught, vast areas of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water, and medicine.

Israel faces accusations of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which ordered it to immediately halt its military operations in the southern city of Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before the area was invaded on May 6.