Israel to revoke licenses of 37 aid groups working in Gaza

Israel will revoke the licenses of 37 aid groups operating in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, saying they fail to meet requirements under new registration rules.

Well-known international non-governmental organizations (INGOs), such as ActionAid, the International Rescue Committee and the Norwegian Refugee Council, are among the organizations whose licenses will be suspended on January 1 and their activities will cease within 60 days.

Israel said the groups did not provide “full” personal information of their staff, among other things.

The move was heavily criticized by foreign ministers of 10 countries, including the UK, who said the new rules were “restrictive” and “unacceptable”.

The foreign ministers of the United Kingdom, France, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Japan, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland said in a joint statement that the forced closure of INGO operations “will have a serious impact on access to essential services, including healthcare.”

They added that the humanitarian situation in Gaza remains “catastrophic” and called on the Israeli government to ensure that INGOs can operate “in a continuous and predictable manner”.

The Israeli Ministry of Diaspora Affairs, which is responsible for registration applications, said the new measures would not affect the flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza.

He added that aid continues to be distributed through “approved and vetted channels” including UN agencies, bilateral partners and humanitarian organisations.

He noted that the primary reason aid groups’ licenses are revoked is “the refusal to provide complete and verifiable information about their employees” and that this is critical to prevent “terrorist agents from infiltrating humanitarian structures.”

Earlier this month, UN-backed experts there said: There had been improvements in nutrition and food supply in Gaza Since a ceasefire was reached between Israel and Hamas in October, but 100,000 people still experienced “catastrophic conditions” the following month.

Cogat, the Israeli military organization that controls Gaza crossings, said that the organizations to be suspended “did not bring aid to Gaza during the current ceasefire.”

“Even in the past, their total contribution was only 1% of the total aid volume,” he added.

The Ministry of Diaspora Affairs said less than 15 percent of organizations providing humanitarian aid to Gaza were found to be in violation of the new regulatory framework.

This framework includes various grounds for refusal, including:

• Denying the existence of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state

• Denying the Holocaust or the Hamas attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023

• Supporting the armed struggle of a hostile state or terrorist organization against Israel

• Promoting “delegitimizing campaigns” against Israel

• Calling for a boycott against Israel or committing to participate in such a boycott

• Supporting the prosecution of Israeli security forces in foreign or international courts

Humanitarian Country Team for the Occupied Palestinian Territories – a forum bringing together UN agencies and more than 200 local and international organizations – was forewarned He said the new registration system “fundamentally compromises” the activities of INGOs in Gaza and the West Bank.

“The system is based on vague, arbitrary and highly politicized criteria and imposes requirements that humanitarian organizations cannot meet without violating international legal obligations or compromising basic humanitarian principles.”

He added: “Although some INGOs are registered under the new system, these INGOs represent only a fraction of the response in Gaza and are nowhere near the number needed to meet immediate and basic needs alone.”

According to the Humanitarian Country Team, INGOs currently manage or support the majority of field hospitals and primary health centers in Gaza, emergency shelter responses, water and sanitation services, nutrition stabilization centers for children with acute malnutrition, and critical mine action activities.

Amichai Chikli, Israel’s Minister of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Anti-Semitism, said in a statement: “The message is clear: humanitarian aid is welcome, abuse of humanitarian frameworks for the purpose of terrorism is not acceptable.”

Other organizations to be suspended include CARE, Medico International and Medical Aid for Palestinians.