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 aimed at preventing Hamas and other militant groups from infiltrating aid organizations. But organizations say the rules are arbitrary and have warned the new ban would harm a civilian population in desperate need of humanitarian aid.
Israel has claimed throughout the war that Hamas siphoned off aid supplies, a charge the UN and aid groups have denied. The 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 to continue working in Gaza.
The new regulations included ideological requirements — including the disqualification of organizations that called for boycotts against Israel, denied the October 7 attack, or expressed support for any international court cases against Israeli soldiers or leaders.
Israel’s Ministry of Diaspora Affairs said more than 30 groups – about 15 percent of organizations operating in Gaza – did not comply and that their operations would be suspended. It also said that Doctors Without Borders, one of the largest and best-known groups in Gaza, had not responded to Israeli claims that some of its workers were affiliated with Hamas or Islamic Jihad.
“The message is clear: humanitarian assistance is welcome – the exploitation of humanitarian workers for terrorism is not,” said Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli.
Doctors Without Borders, also known by its French acronym MSF, said Israel’s decision would have a catastrophic impact on its work in Gaza, where it supports about 20 percent of hospital beds and a third of births. The organization also denied Israel’s allegations about their personnel.
“MSF would never knowingly employ people who engage in military activities,” it said.
“Exhausted Local Staff”
While Israel argued that the decision would have limited impact on the ground. affected organizations said the timing – less than three months after the fragile ceasefire – was devastating.
“Despite the ceasefire, the needs in Gaza are enormous, and yet we and dozens of other organizations are and will continue to be blocked from bringing us essential life-saving assistance,” said Shaina Low, communications adviser for the Norwegian Refugee Council, who was also 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 handed over the list to Palestinian staff as requested by Israel, out of fear of being targeted by Israel and because of data protection laws in Europe.
“It comes from a legal and security perspective. In Gaza, we’ve seen hundreds of aid workers killed,” Low explained.
The decision not to renew the aid groups’ licenses means that offices in Israel and East Jerusalem will close and the organizations will not be able to send international staff or aid to Gaza.
Israel says militants are exploiting 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. I can appeal the decision.
The Israeli defense body that oversees humanitarian aid to Gaza, COGAT, said the organizations on the list contribute less than 1 percent of all aid entering the Gaza Strip, and that aid will continue to flow in from more than 20 organizations that have received permits to continue operating.
“The registration process is intended to prevent the exploitation of aid by Hamas, which in the past has operated under the cover of certain international aid organizations, knowingly or unknowingly,” COGAT said in a statement.
This is not the first time Israel has tried to crack down on international humanitarian organizations. Throughout the war, Israel accused the UN Relief and Works Agency, or UNRWA, of being infiltrated by Hamas, using its facilities and receiving aid. The United Nations denied it. UNRWA, the main UN agency working with the Palestinians, has denied knowingly aiding the armed groups and says it is moving quickly to purge any suspected militants.
After months of criticism from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his far-right allies, Israel banned UNRWA from operating on its territory in January. The US, formerly UNRWA’s biggest donor, stopped funding the agency in early 2024.
NGOs say Israel is vague about data use
Israel has failed to confirm that data collected under the new regulations will not be used for military or intelligence purposes, raising serious security concerns, said Athena Rayburn, executive director of AIDA, an umbrella organization representing more than 100 organizations operating in the Palestinian territories. She noted that more than 500 aid workers had been killed in Gaza during the war.
“Agreeing to a party to the conflict to check our personnel, especially under conditions of occupation, is a violation of humanitarian principles, especially neutrality and independence,” she said.
Rayburn said the organizations have raised their concerns and offered alternatives to sending personnel lists, such as third-party verification, but that Israel has refused to engage in any dialogue.
Palestinian girl killed in Gaza
A 10-year-old girl was killed and another person was wounded by Israeli fire in Gaza City near the Yellow Line, which demarcates 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 approaching or threatening soldiers.
Gaza’s Health Ministry, part of the Hamas-led government, said on Monday that 71,266 Palestinians had been killed in Gaza, not including the girl. The ministry does not differentiate between civilians and combatants in its numbers. The United Nations and independent experts consider the Ministry of Health to be the most reliable source of war casualties. Israel disputes its figures, but has not provided its own figures.
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