The United Nations has condemned the “unacceptable” level of violence becoming commonplace against humanitarian workers, a record 280 of whom were killed worldwide in 2023, AFP reports.

It warned that Israel’s military offensive on Gaza is potentially fueling even higher numbers of such deaths this year.

“The normalisation of violence against aid workers and the lack of accountability are unacceptable, unconscionable and enormously harmful for aid operations everywhere,” Joyce Msuya, acting director of the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said in a statement on World Humanitarian Day.

The UN said 163 aid workers were killed in Gaza during the first three months of fighting, mainly in air strikes.

Despite 2023’s “outrageously high number” of aid worker fatalities, OCHA said 2024 “may be on track for an even deadlier outcome.” As of August 9, 176 aid workers have been killed worldwide, according to the Aid Worker Security Database.