International aid groups wrangle over what Israel’s sanctions mean for their work in Gaza

TEL AVIV (AP) — Israel’s decision this week to revoke the licenses of more than three dozen humanitarian organizations has aid groups grappling with what it means for their operations in Gaza and their ability to help thousands of struggling Palestinians.

The 37 groups represent some of the most prominent of the more than 100 independent non-governmental organizations working in Gaza alongside UN agencies. Those banned include Doctors Without Borders, the Norwegian Refugee Council, Oxfam and Medical Aid for Palestinians.

Groups do everything from providing tents and water to clinics and medical facilities. The overall effect, however, remains unclear.

The most immediate effect of the license revocation is that Israel will no longer allow groups to bring supplies into the Gaza Strip or send international personnel to the area. Israel has told all suspended groups to cease their operations by March 1.

Some groups are already banned from bringing aid. For example, the Norwegian Refugee Council said that while it has not been allowed to bring in supplies for 10 months, it is distributing aid brought by tents and other groups.

Israel says banned groups in Gaza make up only a small part of the aid campaign.

But aid officials say they serve important specific functions. In a joint statement on Tuesday, the United Nations and major NGOs said the organizations licensed by Israel are “nowhere near the number needed to meet immediate and basic needs” in Gaza.

The ban has further strained aid efforts as Gaza’s two million Palestinians continue to face a humanitarian crisis more than 12 weeks after a ceasefire. The United Nations says that while hunger has been halted, more than a quarter of families eat just one meal a day and the cost of food remains beyond the reach of many. More than 1 million people need better shelter as winter storms hit the region.

Why was their license revoked?

Earlier this year, Israel introduced strict new registration requirements for aid agencies working in Gaza. In particular, it would require groups to provide the names and personal details of local and international staff and it would ban groups for a long list of criticisms of Israel.

The registration process is overseen by Israel’s Ministry of Diaspora Affairs and Anti-Semitism, which is headed by a far-right member of the ruling Likud party.

Israel says the rules are aimed at preventing Hamas and other fighters from infiltrating the groups, which has been happening in the 2-year-old war. The United Nations and independent groups leading the massive aid program in Gaza deny accusations and Israeli claims of massive diversion of aid supplies by Hamas.

Aid organizations say they didn’t comply, in part, because they feared handing over staff information could put them at risk. According to the United Nations, more than 500 aid workers have been killed during the war in Gaza.

Israel has denied targeting aid workers. But the group said it was unclear how Israel would use the data.

The groups also said Israel was unclear about how the data would be used.

“Demanding a list of personnel as a condition for access to the region is an outrageous overreach,” Doctors Without Borders, known by its French acronym MSF, said on Friday. It said Israeli officials had rejected efforts to find an alternative to it.

A December report on MSF issued by an Israeli government team recommended denying the group a license. It pointed to the group’s statement, which was mainly critical of Israel, describing its campaign in Gaza as genocide and calling the months-long ban on food entering the region earlier this year a “starvation strategy”. It said the statement violated neutrality and constituted “Israel’s delegitimization”.

The report also reiterated claims that MSF personnel killed in an Israeli airstrike in 2024 were active with the Islamic Jihad militant group. It said MSF “maintains ties to terrorist groups.”

MSF denied the allegations on Friday, saying it “does not employ anyone who knowingly engages in military activity.” It said the statement cited by Israel only described the devastation seen by its teams in Gaza.

“The fault lies with those who commit these atrocities, not those who speak about them,” it said.

Aid groups have a week from December 31 to appeal the process.

Medical services may see the greatest impact

Independent NGOs play a key role in advancing Gaza’s health sector, which has been devastated for two years by Israeli bombardment and supply restrictions.

MSF said Israel’s decision would have a devastating impact on its work in Gaza, where it provides funding and international staff for six hospitals as well as operating two regional hospitals and eight primary health centers, clinics and medical points. It also works to help severely malnourished children in two of Gaza’s five stabilization centers.

Its teams treated 100,000 trauma cases, operated on 10,000 patients and handled a third of Gaza’s births, the group says. It has 60 international staff and more than 1,200 local staff in the West Bank and Gaza – most of them medical professionals.

Since the ceasefire began in early October, MSF has brought in about 7% of the 2,239 tons (2,032 metric tons) of medical supplies allowed by Israel into Gaza, according to a UN tracking dashboard. That makes it the largest provider of medical supplies after UN agencies and the Red Cross, according to the dashboard.

Medecins du Monde, another group whose license has been suspended, runs another four primary health clinics.

Burden of Palestinian personnel

Aid groups say the most immediate impact will be the inability to send international staff to Gaza.

Foreign staff provide key technical expertise and emotional support to their Palestinian colleagues.

“Having an international presence in Gaza is a morale booster for our staff who are already feeling isolated,” said Shaina Lo, communications adviser at the Norwegian Refugee Council, one of the main NGOs providing shelter supplies and fresh water to displaced people.

The NRC has about 30 international staff who move in and out of Gaza working with about 70 Palestinians.

While any operations by the 37 groups in the West Bank will likely remain open, those with offices in East Jerusalem, which Israel considers its territory, may have to close.

Stop supply

Many of the 37 groups have been blocked from bringing supplies into Gaza since March, said Bushra Khalidi, Oxfam’s policy lead for Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

What will change with the formal license revocation “These practices are now formalized, giving Israel total impunity to restrict operations and shut down organizations it disagrees with,” she said.

Some groups are turning to buying supplies instead of bringing them into Gaza, but that is slow and expensive, she said. Other groups dug into reserve stock, curtailed distribution, and had to make do with broken or over-repaired equipment because new ones could not be brought in.

American humanitarian philanthropist Amed Khan, who privately donates medicine and emergency nutrition for children in Gaza, said the impact extends beyond aid groups.

He relies on NGOs to obtain and distribute supplies, but finds it difficult to find the few groups that Israel approves of.

“It’s death by bureaucracy,” he said.