More than 50 international NGOs operating in occupied Palestine have warned that recent registration measures imposed by Israel are threatening to halt operations at a time of acute humanitarian need in Gaza.
On 30 December, 37 NGOs received an official notification that their registrations would expire the next day, triggering a two-month period after which they would be required to cease operations in Gaza, as well as the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Israel’s Ministry of Diaspora Affairs announced the ban on Tuesday, saying that organisations that had failed to meet their “security and transparency requirements” would have their licences suspended.
The ministry said the ban would also apply to those who “refused to submit a list of their Palestinian employees in order to rule out any links to terrorism”.
“Recent efforts to assess the impact of deregistering INGOs through selective metrics do not capture how humanitarian assistance is delivered in practice,” the 53 NGOs jointly wrote.
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“INGOs operate under strict donor-mandated compliance frameworks, including audits, counterterror financing controls, and due diligence requirements that meet international standards.”
They said that NGOs could not transfer sensitive personal data to a party of the conflict, since this would breach humanitarian principles, duty of care and data protection. They noted that mor than 500 humanitarian workers had been killed since October 2023.
“If registrations are allowed to lapse, the Israeli government will obstruct humanitarian assistance at scale,” they said.
“Humanitarian access is not optional, conditional, or political. It is a legal obligation under international humanitarian law.”
They added that it would set a dangerous precedent in extending Israeli authority over humanitarian operations in occupied Palestine, contrary to internationally recognised legal frameworks.
The signatories of the statement include Amnesty International, Doctors Without Borders (MSF), Islamic Relief, the Norwegian Refugee Council and Oxfam.
The groups called on Israel to immediately halt the deregistration proceedings and lift measures obstructing humanitarian assistance. They also called on governments to use their leverage to reverse Israel’s actions.
Eight Muslim countries tell Israel to allow aid
Around 60 percent of Gaza’s field hospitals are run by NGOs, as well as over half of the delivery of food assistance in the territory.
NGOs also run a large proportion (30 percent) of emergency education activities, water and sanitation measures services (42 percent) and shelter and non food item activities (nearly 70 percent).
The measures came as heavy rain and strong winds over the past week flooded and uprooted tents in Gaza, worsening already dire living conditions for Palestinians after two years of Israeli genocide.
Since the start of the rainy season in December, at least three children have died from the cold, while 17 others have been killed by buildings collapsing due to storms and strong winds.
According to the Shelter Cluster, more than 42,000 tents and makeshift shelters were damaged between 10 and 17 December, affecting nearly a quarter of a million people in the besieged enclave.
Elsewhere on Friday, eight Muslim majority countries signed a joint statement expressing deep concern over the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza, “which has been exacerbated by severe, harsh, and unstable weather conditions”.
The signatories were the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Jordan, Indonesia, Turkey, Pakistan, Qatar and Egypt.
The ministers said the situation was being compounded by the slow pace of entry of essential materials into Gaza.
“They demanded that Israel ensure the UN and international NGOs are able to operate in Gaza and the West Bank in a sustained, predictable, and unrestricted manner,” a statement read.
“The ministers called on the international community to uphold its legal and moral responsibilities and to pressure Israel, as the occupying power, to immediately lift constraints on the entry and distribution of essential supplies.”
The eight countries called for unhindered access into Gaza by all parties, and the opening of the Rafah Crossing in both directions.
