Israel faces widespread condemnation as NGO ban comes into effect
Ban could cut hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in
Gaza off from essential care, Doctors Without Borders warns.
1 Jan 2026
Israel faces mounting global condemnation as a ban on
dozens of international aid organisations working to provide life-saving
assistance to Palestinians in the war-ravaged Gaza Strip has come into effect.
On Thursday, a group of 17 human rights and advocacy
organisations in Israel condemned the prohibition, saying it “undermines
principled humanitarian action, endangers staff and communities, and
compromises effective aid delivery”.
“Israel, as the occupying power, has an obligation to
ensure adequate supplies to Palestinian civilians. Not only is it failing to
fulfil that obligation, but it is also preventing others from filling the gap,”
the groups said.
Israel has revoked the operating licences of 37 aid groups, including Doctors Without Borders, known by its
French initials MSF, and the Norwegian Refugee Council, for failing to comply
with new government regulations.
The new rules require international NGOs working in
Gaza and the occupied West Bank to provide detailed information on staff
members, as well as their funding and operations.
Israel has defended the move by accusing international
organisations that work in Gaza of having links to Hamas and Palestinian
Islamic Jihad – without providing any evidence.
But experts say the requirements contravene
humanitarian principles and follow a longstanding Israeli government campaign
to vilify and ultimately impede the work of aid groups providing assistance to Palestinians.
“The new registration framework violates core
humanitarian principles of independence and neutrality,” the Israel-based
rights groups, including B’Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights-Israel, said
in Thursday’s statement.
“Conditioning aid on political alignment, penalizing
support for legal accountability, and requiring the disclosure of sensitive
personal data of Palestinian staff and their families all constitute a breach
of duty of care and expose workers to surveillance and harm.”
‘Pattern of unlawful restrictions’
The ban comes as Israel has waged a genocidal war
against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, imposing restrictions on food, medicine
and other humanitarian aid deliveries to the coastal territory.
Israeli violence has also soared in the occupied West
Bank, with the military forcing tens of thousands of Palestinians out of their
homes in what Human Rights Watch has described as war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Against that backdrop, United Nations human rights
chief Volker Turk said earlier
this week that
Israel’s NGO ban is “the latest in a pattern of unlawful restrictions on
humanitarian access” in the occupied Palestinian territory.
Doctors Without Borders said in a social media post
that, as of Wednesday, it was still waiting on the renewal of its registration
to operate in Gaza and the West Bank under the new Israeli rules.
“The Palestinian health system is decimated, essential
infrastructure is destroyed, and people struggle to meet basic needs. People
need more services, not less,” MSF said.
“If MSF and other INGOs lose access, hundreds of
thousands of Palestinians would be cut off from essential care.”
Former UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths, who
sits on the board of the Norwegian Refugee Council, told Al Jazeera he was not
optimistic about what will happen next.
“The reality is these agencies are essential to aid
delivery – [and] aid delivery in particular in the Gaza Strip,” Griffiths said.
“They are the last mile, the phrase used in humanitarian operations to those
who actually deliver the aid to the people involved.”
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