Al Jazeera warns on World Humanitarian Day that humanitarian protection is being traded and compromised, putting aid workers and civilians at greater risk. The piece says the rules-based consensus that once shielded medics and children in conflict has eroded as some states selectively enforce or ignore international law. According to UN figures cited, at least 1,000 aid workers were killed in the past three years, and in 2025 there were hundreds of attacks on operations with 350 aid workers killed, 322 injured, 235 kidnapped, and 280 detained. Oxfam reports losing five colleagues and partner staff in eight years and more than 1,300 staff involved in about 1,200 security incidents. The article highlights cases where states impose restrictions that hinder relief, noting that Israeli authorities asked 37 international organisations to hand over staff personal details; all refused and were subsequently deregistered, which limited their ability to bring goods into Gaza and the West Bank. Al Jazeera argues impunity has encouraged bad actors to flout protections and calls on governments to stop treating protection as a political commodity and restore consistent enforcement of humanitarian law.
