Humanitarians under fire: In Lebanon, Batoul’s family remember “the joy of our home”

BEKAA VALLEY, Lebanon - "Batoul was the joy of our home," said Hashem Qallaji, in the Bekaa valley in Lebanon. "She was the laughter. When you sat and talked with her, it was as if she breathed life back into your soul."

For almost a decade, his sister Batoul Qallaji supported women and girls through her work for the Amel Association, a local partner of UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, which is the UN's sexual and reproductive health agency.

"Batoul didn't treat the people she worked with as numbers or cases," continued Hashem. "She treated them as human beings, as people with hopes and dreams. People who had suffered injustice and found themselves in difficult circumstances."

Across the world, front-line aid workers like Batoul are being killed, injured and detained, simply for carrying out their jobs. International humanitarian law states that this is illegal, that violations must be investigated and perpetrators held to account; yet this has not stopped increasing disregard for these laws, which are intended to protect civilians and humanitarian workers in armed conflict.

"Batoul knew that when someone is facing a crisis, what they need most is a helping hand," added Hashem. "Someone to stand beside them, to defend them, to help them claim their rights."

But like more than 1,000 others across the world from 2022 to 2025, Batoul was killed for extending that hand. The 40-year-old social worker died along with her parents and young son when a bomb hit their home on 20 June, 2026 - the day after a ceasefire had been announced.

"That is what makes it even more heartbreaking," her brother Mohamad said. "Everyone knew who they were: an elderly man, an elderly woman, a humanitarian worker and a young child. They had nothing to do with any military activity. They were civilians."

"And Batoul worked in the humanitarian field. That should have afforded her protection."

A global lack of accountability

In 2026, Gaza, Lebanon and Ukraine have suffered the highest number of attacks on healthcare so far, according to the World Health Organization. When health services are targeted or disrupted in a conflict, women and children are disproportionately affected: sexual and reproductive health services and support centres for survivors of sexual violence have been attacked in a number of conflicts.

These failures of justice are not going unreported. International media outlets, UN agencies, advocacy groups and citizen journalists are documenting them on a daily basis, but the world has largely chosen to look away.

"Batoul worked in the humanitarian field. That should have afforded her protection" - Mohamad Qallaji

In February this year, Batoul and her family were forced to flee their village of Sohmor. They returned when the ceasefire was announced on 19 June, but shortly after noon the following day, Hashem recalled, "the sky split open. Everything erupted."

The brothers were bereft. "The family we lost represented every generation, from the father who was 83 years old, to the grandson who was only nine."

A family in grief, a community bereaved

Humanitarians are protected under international law because they are tasked with helping people to survive. Like Batoul, many are from the communities they serve.

"Behind that person is a family. They have a home," said Hashem. "If you or I found ourselves in a war, our instinct would probably be to get away from the danger. A humanitarian worker does the opposite. They may take their family somewhere safe, make sure they are protected, and then put themselves back in the middle of danger."

"Protecting humanitarian workers is not a privilege, it is a duty. They are providing a civilian service to society, helping communities get back on their feet and overcome the hardships they face."

Yet this protection is being deliberately undermined, as armed drones and other increasingly deadly technologies put civilians, including humanitarians, in growing danger.

Consequences should be for perpetrators, not victims

"When a humanitarian worker is lost, it is not only their family who loses them," continued Hashem. "The communities they were helping lose them too."

"Protecting humanitarian workers is not a privilege, it is a duty" - Hashem Qallaji

The brothers found unexpected comfort in meeting the many people Batoul had supported in her years as a humanitarian worker.

"I only really learned about the people Batoul had helped after she was killed, when they came to offer their condolences," said Hashem. "When I heard how many women she had helped, how many children, families without shelter, who needed medical care, people who needed legal documents - I was filled with pride."

A call for accountability

This World Humanitarian Day, UN agencies are calling for the violence to end, for attacks against response workers to be fully investigated, and for the prosecution of those responsible. Survivors and their families deserve support and solidarity, too.

Batoul truly loved her work, said her brother. "She wasn't waiting for someone to tell her, 'Well done, Batoul. You did a good job.' Whenever she was able to make a difference in someone's life, whenever she was able to help someone, that was her reward."