Humanitarian workers killed as violence escalates in Gaza and Sudan

HUMANITARIAN workers are increasingly becoming targets of violence in Gaza and Sudan, where five Sudanese Red Crescent volunteers were killed this week, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has confirmed.

ICRC Director-General Pierre Krahenbuhl said Israel continues to launch deadly strikes in Gaza despite a ceasefire agreed earlier in October. At the same time, he noted reports of atrocities committed by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Sudan’s civil war.

“There is now a pattern of violence against humanitarian workers in Sudan, Gaza and elsewhere. This situation is deeply worrying,” Krahenbuhl said in an interview ahead of the Manama Dialogue conference in Bahrain.

He warned that growing numbers of actors no longer respect international humanitarian law, which is being “clearly flouted” in both conflicts.

On Tuesday, the ICRC reported that five Sudanese Red Crescent volunteers were killed in North Kordofan, one of the key battlegrounds since the conflict erupted in April 2023. Reports have also emerged that 460 people were killed at a hospital in El-Fasher, a city recently captured by the RSF.

After the fall of El-Fasher, communications were cut off completely. Survivors fleeing to Tawila described scenes of massacre, with children shot and civilians beaten and robbed.

Krahenbuhl said the wars in Sudan and Gaza rank among the most severe humanitarian crises in modern history, citing attacks on civilians, widespread sexual violence and assaults on hospitals and medical facilities.

“The destruction in Gaza is far worse than anything I have witnessed in my career,” he said. “In 25 to 30 years of humanitarian work, I have never seen this level of devastation. The aid reaching Gaza remains utterly insufficient — the needs of the people far exceed what we can currently deliver.”

The United Nations also warned this week that although aid shipments have increased since the ceasefire, humanitarian organisations remain underfunded and face serious obstacles in coordinating with Israeli authorities.

In a separate development, Krahenbuhl criticised Israel’s decision to ban ICRC visits to Palestinian detainees held under laws allowing indefinite detention. Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said the visits, suspended during the Gaza war, could jeopardise national security.

Krahenbuhl dismissed the claim, insisting that ICRC inspections posed no threat to Israel’s safety and urged the government to lift the ban. - November 1, 2025