JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel said Tuesday it has suspended more than two dozen humanitarian organizations, including Doctors Without Borders and CARE, from operating in the Gaza Strip for failing to comply with new registration rules.
Israel says the rules are intended to prevent Hamas and other militant groups from infiltrating aid organizations. But organizations say the rules are arbitrary and warn that the new ban will harm civilians in need of humanitarian aid.
Israel has claimed that Hamas has cut off aid supplies throughout the war, a charge denied by the United Nations and aid groups. New rules announced by Israel earlier this year require aid organizations to register the names of their workers and provide details of funding and operations in order to continue working in Gaza.
The new rules include ideological requirements – including disqualifying organizations that call for a boycott against Israel, reject the October 7 attacks or express support for any International Court of Justice case against Israeli soldiers or leaders.
Israel’s Ministry of Diaspora Affairs said more than 30 groups – about 15% of organizations operating in Gaza – have failed to comply and their operations will be suspended. It also said that Doctors Without Borders, one of Gaza’s largest and best-known groups, had failed to respond to Israeli claims that some of its activists were affiliated with Hamas or Islamic Jihad.
“The message is clear: humanitarian aid is welcome – not the exploitation of a humanitarian framework for terrorism,” said Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli.
Doctors Without Borders, also known by its French acronym MSF, said Israel’s decision would have a devastating impact on their work in Gaza, where they support about 20% of hospital beds and a third of births. The organization also denied Israel’s allegations about its staff.
“MSF will never employ people who knowingly engage in military activities,” it said.
‘Weary local staff’
While Israel claims the decision will have limited impact on the ground. Affected organizations said the timing – less than three months into the tenuous ceasefire – was devastating.
“Despite the cease-fire, the needs in Gaza are great and yet we and dozens of other organizations have been and will continue to be prevented from bringing in essential life-saving aid,” said Shaina Lo, communications adviser for the Norwegian Refugee Council, who has been suspended.
“Not being able to send staff to Gaza means all the workload falls on our exhausted local staff,” Low said.
Some aid groups say they have not submitted lists of Palestinian employees, as demanded by Israel, out of fear that Israel would target them, and because of data protection laws in Europe.
“It comes from a legal and security point of view. In Gaza we saw hundreds of aid workers killed,” Low explained.
The decision not to renew the aid groups’ licenses means offices in Israel and East Jerusalem will be closed, and the organizations will not be able to send international staff or aid to Gaza.
Israel says terrorists exploit aid groups
According to the ministry, the decision means that the aid groups’ licenses will be revoked on January 1, and if they are in Israel, they will have to leave by March 1. They can appeal the decision.
COGAT, the Israeli defense agency that oversees humanitarian aid to Gaza, said the organizations on the list account for less than 1% of the total aid going to the Gaza Strip, and that aid will continue to flow in from more than 20 organizations that have received permission to continue operating.
“The purpose of the registration process is to prevent the exploitation of aid by Hamas, which in the past has been carried out knowingly or unknowingly under the cover of some international aid organizations,” COGAT said in a statement.
This is not the first time Israel has tried to crack down on international humanitarian organizations. During the war, Israel accused the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, or UNRWA, of infiltrating Hamas, using its facilities, and supporting it. The United Nations has rejected it. UNRWA, the top UN agency working with the Palestinians, has refused to knowingly support armed groups and it acts swiftly to eliminate any suspected militants.
After criticism from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his far-right allies, Israel banned UNRWA from operating in its territory in January. The United States, which was previously UNRWA’s largest donor, stopped funding the agency in early 2024.
NGOs say Israel is unclear on data use
Israel failed to confirm that data collected from the new regulations would not be used for military or intelligence purposes, raising serious security concerns, said Athena Rayburn, executive director of AIDA, which represents more than 100 organizations operating in the Palestinian territories. She noted that more than 500 aid workers had been killed during the war in Gaza.
“Agreeing to the side of the conflict to examine our personnel, especially in the context of occupation, is a violation of humanitarian principles, especially neutrality and independence,” she said.
Rayburn said the organizations expressed their concerns and offered alternatives to submitting lists of employees, such as third-party vetting, but Israel refused to engage in any negotiations.
A Palestinian girl has died in Gaza
A 10-year-old girl was killed and another person wounded by Israeli fire in Gaza City near the yellow line demarcating areas under Israeli control, the territory’s Shifa Hospital said on Tuesday.
The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the incident but said troops operating near the Yellow Line would target anyone who approached or threatened soldiers.
Gaza’s health ministry, part of the government run by Hamas, said on Monday that 71,266 Palestinians had been killed in Gaza, not including girls. The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its calculations. The United Nations and independent experts consider the Ministry of Health to be the most reliable source on war casualties. Israel disputes its figures but has not provided its own.
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