Labor demands urgent inquiry into death of Gaza aid workers as David Lammy visits UN

An urgent independent inquiry must be launched into the deaths of aid workers in Gaza, Labor will tell the head of the UN on Friday.

Shadow Foreign Secretary David Lammy is visiting the UN Secretary General in New York to call for urgent action on Gaza, including an independent investigation and public report into the record death toll of humanitarians.

The safety of aid workers came under renewed scrutiny this month after seven staff at World Central Kitchen were killed in an Israeli drone strike which targeted their vehicles three times.

Three Britons were among the dead, with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak saying he was “appalled” by the deaths. Israel later said the incident was a “grave mistake”.

In total, more than 200 aid workers have been killed in Gaza since October 2023, according to Save the Children, the majority Palestinian. One in every 100 staff from the UN’s Palestinian refugee agency, UNRWA, have been killed.

“The conflict in Gaza has seen the highest staff death toll in UN history and more humanitarian workers killed in such a short space of time than any modern war,” Mr Lammy told and ahead of the visit.

“Labor supports calls for a full, independent, and timebound investigation that leads to a public report. There must be accountability for their deaths and new guarantees for protection in the future. Those working in desperate conditions to provide aid and support to the most vulnerable people in the world must always be protected.”

Labor has not specified what form it would like the investigation to take, but and understands this could be an inquiry led by an independent expert.

Mr Lammy’s visit demonstrates the latest hardening of Labour’s stance on Israel after suffering mass resignations for its initial reluctance to call for a ceasefire, before doing so in February.

Mr Lammy also reinstated calls for the UK to follow other European countries in restoring funding to UNRWA, after it was suspended following Israeli claims that some staff members had been involved in Hamas atrocities on 7 October.

UNRWA is the largest aid provider in Gaza, running schools and social services as well as emergency relief.

An independent review by former French foreign minister Catherine Colonna published this week, which examined UNRWA’s procedures for neutrality, said Israel had yet to provide evidence to support accusations that a significant number of UNRWA staff were members of what it called Gaza terrorist groups.

The UN is investigating accusations made in January against the 12 employees, with 10 sacked and two dead. Two months later, Israel said that more than 450 UNRWA employees were fighters in what it termed terrorist groups in Gaza, claiming it had shared detailed information about this.

The UK has faced new pressure to restore UNRWA funding this week after Germany became the latest country to announce that it would – following the EU, Australia, Sweden, Canada and Japan – with 50 MPs and peers writing to Foreign Secretary David Cameron calling for a resumption of support.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has urged all countries to support UNRWA as a “lifeline for Palestine refugees in the region”.

The Government had said it was waiting for the review from Ms Colonna, and has since said it will decide on funding after “careful consideration” of its findings.

Mr Lammy said it was “shocking” that the UK was one of the last major donors still not committed to restoring funding despite the findings of the Colonna report and confirmed Labor would resume UNRWA support if it were in power.

The UN has recently come under fire from former Prime Minister Liz Truss, who said it should be “abolished”.

Ms Truss said she did not see a purpose to the organization and accused it of playing a “damaging” role in the conflict in Gaza.

But Mr Lammy defended the organization, saying that the UN remains “the bedrock of the international rules based order, and the central hub of dialogue and diplomacy in our divided world.”

The Shadow Foreign Secretary also reiterated calls for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and the immediate release of all hostages from Hamas, as well as the lifting of restrictions on the flow of aid to alleviate the urgent humanitarian crisis.

Aid organizations have warned that more supplies are urgently needed in Gaza, with the UN warning that famine is “imminent”.

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The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) has said that it considers “the vital humanitarian activity of international aid organizations to be of utmost importance”, vowing to “continue to work to co-ordinate and assist their activities, while ensuring their safety and safeguarding their lives.”

The IDF has pledged to learn lessons from the World Central Kitchen deaths and “incorporate them into the IDF’s ongoing operations”.

Israel said it is taking extensive measures to ensure the flow of aid into Gaza, including pauses in fighting to allow it to move around internally, with more than 25,000 trucks entering Gaza since the start of the war.

An FCDO spokesperson said: “Allegations that UNRWA staff were involved in the events that took place on October 7 in Israel are appalling, which is why we took decisive action to pause future funding to the organization.

“The Prime Minister has been clear that the UK will set out its position on future funding to UNRWA following careful consideration of Catherine Colonna’s final report, UNRWA’s response and the ongoing UN Office for Internal Oversight Services investigation into these allegations.”