Israel Says It Will Halt Operations Of Several Humanitarian Organizations In Gaza Starting In 2026

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel on Tuesday said it was suspending multiple two dozen humanitarian organizationsIncluding Doctors Without Borders and CARE Gaza Strip for not complying with the new registration rules.

Israel says rules aim to prevent Hamas and preventing other militant groups from infiltrating aid agencies. But organizations say the rules are arbitrary and warn that the new ban will harm civilian populations in dire need of humanitarian aid.

Israel claimed that Hamas was siphoning aid supplies throughout the war; The UN and aid groups rejected this accusation. New rules announced by Israel earlier this year require aid agencies to register the names of their employees and provide detailed information about funding and operations in order to continue working in Gaza.

The new regulations included ideological requirements, including disqualifying organizations that called for a boycott against Israel, denied the October 7 attack, or expressed support for any of the international cases brought against Israeli soldiers or leaders.

The Israeli Ministry of Diaspora Affairs said that more than 30 groups, accounting for approximately 15 percent of the organizations operating in Gaza, did not comply with the rules and their activities would be suspended. He also said Doctors Without BordersGaza, one of the largest and most well-known groups in Gaza, has not responded to Israeli allegations that some of its employees are affiliated with Hamas or Islamic Jihad.

“The message is clear: humanitarian aid is welcome, the use of humanitarian frameworks for terrorism is not acceptable,” said Amichai Chikli, Minister of Diaspora Affairs.

Médecins Sans Frontières, also known by its French acronym MSF, said Israel’s decision would have a disastrous impact on its work in Gaza, where they support about 20% of hospital beds and a third of births. The organization also denied Israeli accusations against its personnel.

MSF will never knowingly employ people engaged in military activities.

Israel, on the other hand, claimed that the impact of the decision on the field would be limited. Affected organizations said the timing was devastating, with less than three months left for a fragile ceasefire to begin.

“Despite the ceasefire, the needs in Gaza are immense, and yet we and dozens of other organizations have been and will continue to be prevented from bringing life-saving essential aid,” said Shaina Low, communications advisor for the Norwegian Refugee Council, which has also been suspended.

“Not being able to send staff to Gaza means the entire workload falls on our exhausted local staff,” Low said.

Some aid groups say they have not submitted the list of Palestinian personnel as Israel has requested, due to fears they could be targeted by Israel and data protection laws in Europe.

“This comes from a legal and security perspective. We have seen hundreds of aid workers killed in Gaza,” Low said.

The decision not to renew aid groups’ licenses means offices in Israel and East Jerusalem will be closed and organizations will not be able to send international staff or aid to Gaza.

According to the ministry, the decision means that aid groups’ licenses will be revoked on January 1, and if they are in Israel, they must leave as of March 1. They can appeal the decision.

COGAT, the Israeli defense agency that oversees humanitarian aid to Gaza, said the organizations on the list contribute less than 1 percent of the total aid going to the Gaza Strip and that aid will continue to come from more than 20 organizations that have received permits to operate.

“The registration process aims to prevent aid abuse by Hamas, which has knowingly or unknowingly operated under the guise of some international aid organizations in the past,” COGAT said in a statement. he said.

This is not Israel’s first attempt to pressure international humanitarian organizations. Throughout the war, Israel accused the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) of infiltrating Hamas, using its facilities and receiving aid. The United Nations denied this. UNRWA, the U.N.’s peak agency working with the Palestinians, has denied knowingly aiding armed groups and said it was moving quickly to eliminate suspected militants.

After months of criticism from the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his far-right allies Israel bans UNRWA In January, it gave up operating on its own territory. The United States, previously UNRWA’s largest donor, stopped funding the agency in early 2024.

Athena Rayburn, chief executive of AIDA, an umbrella organization representing more than 100 organizations operating in the Palestinian territories, said Israel could not confirm that data collected from the new regulations would not be used for military or intelligence purposes, raising serious security concerns. stated that More than 500 aid workers They were killed in Gaza during the war.

“Agreeing that one side of the conflict should inspect our personnel, especially in conditions of occupation, is a violation of humanitarian principles, especially impartiality and independence,” he said.

Rayburn said the organizations expressed concerns and offered alternatives, such as third-party review rather than submitting staff lists, but Israel refused to engage in any dialogue.

A 10-year-old girl was killed and one person was injured by Israeli fire in Gaza City near the Yellow Line, which marks Israeli-controlled areas, the area’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 Ministry of Health, which is part of the Hamas-run government, said on Monday that 71,266 Palestinians, not including girls, had been killed in Gaza. The Ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in the census. The United Nations and independent experts consider the Ministry of Health the most reliable source on war casualties. Israel disputes its own figures but did not provide its own figures.

Find more of AP’s Israel-Hamas coverage at: https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war.