Israel says it will suspend work of several humanitarian organisations in Gaza
The Israeli government said the organisations did not meet new requirements for sharing staff, funding and operations information.
Israel said it had suspended more than two dozen humanitarian organisations, including Doctors Without Borders and Care, from operating in the Gaza Strip for failing to comply with new registration rules.
Israel said the rules were aimed at preventing Hamas and other militant groups from infiltrating the aid organisations.
But the organisations said the rules were arbitrary and warned that the new ban would harm a civilian population desperately in need of humanitarian aid.
Israel has claimed throughout the war that Hamas was siphoning off aid supplies — a charge the militants deny.
Early this year, Israel announced it would require aid organisations to register the names of its workers and provide details about funding and operations in order to continue working in Gaza.
The new regulations included ideological requirements — including disqualifying organisations that have called for boycotts against Israel, denied the October 7 attack or expressed support for any of the international court cases against Israeli soldiers or leaders.
Israel’s ministry of diaspora affairs said more than 30 groups — about 15% of the organisations operating in Gaza — had failed to comply and that their operations would be suspended.
It also said that Doctors Without Borders, one of the biggest and best-known groups in Gaza, had failed to respond to Israeli claims that some of its workers were affiliated with Hamas or Islamic Jihad.
“The message is clear: humanitarian assistance is welcome — the exploitation of humanitarian frameworks for terrorism is not,” diaspora affairs minister Amichai Chikli said.
Doctors Without Borders, also known by its French acronym MSF, said Israel’s decision would have a catastrophic impact on their work in Gaza, where they supported around 20% of the hospital beds and a third of births.
The organisation also denied Israel’s accusations about their staff.
“MSF would never knowingly employ people engaging in military activity,” it said.
While Israel claimed the decision would have limited impact on the ground. the affected organisations said the timing — less than three months into a fragile ceasefire — was devastating.
“Despite the ceasefire, the needs in Gaza are enormous and yet we and dozens of other organisations are and will continue to be blocked from bringing in essential life-saving assistance,” Shaina Low, communications adviser for the Norwegian Refugee Council, which has also been suspended, said.
“Not being able to send staff into Gaza means all of the workload falls on our exhausted local staff,” Ms Low said.
Some aid groups said they did not submit the list of Palestinian staff, as Israel demanded, for fear they would be targeted by Israel, and because of data protection laws in Europe.
“It comes from a legal and safety perspective. In Gaza, we saw hundreds of aid workers get killed,” Ms Low said.
The decision not to renew aid groups’ licences means offices in Israel and East Jerusalem will close, and organisations will not be able to send international staff or aid into Gaza.
According to the ministry, the decision means the aid groups will have their licence revoked on January 1, and if they are located in Israel, they will need to leave by March 1. They can appeal the decision.
The Israeli defence body that oversees humanitarian aid to Gaza, Cogat, said that the organisations on the list contributed less than 1% of the total aid going into the Gaza Strip, and that aid would continue to enter from more than 20 organisations that did receive permits to continue operating in Gaza.
“The registration process is intended to prevent the exploitation of aid by Hamas, which in the past operated under the cover of certain international aid organisations, knowingly or unknowingly,” Cogat said in a statement.
Meanwhile, a 10-year-old girl was killed and another person was wounded by Israeli fire in Gaza City near the Yellow Line that delineates areas under Israeli control, the territory’s Shifa Hospital said on Tuesday.
The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the incident but have said troops operating near the Yellow Line would target anyone who approached or threatened soldiers.
