Star Metro - Israel confirms ban on 37 NGOs in Gaza

The international NGOs, which had been ordered to disclose detailed information on their Palestinian staff, will now be required to cease operations by March 1.

The United Nations has warned that this will exacerbate the humanitarian crisis in the war-ravaged Palestinian territory.

"Organisations that have failed to meet required security and transparency standards will have their licenses suspended," Israel's Ministry of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism said in a statement.

Several NGOS have said the requirements contravene international humanitarian law or endanger their independence.

Israel says the new regulation aims to prevent bodies it accuses of supporting terrorism from operating in the Palestinian territories.

Prominent humanitarian organisations hit by the ban include Doctors Without Borders (MSF), the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), World Vision International and Oxfam, according to a ministry list.

In MSF's case, Israel accused it of having two employees who were members of Palestinian militant groups Islamic Jihad and Hamas.

MSF said this week the request to share a list of its staff "may be in violation of Israel's obligations under international humanitarian law" and said it "would never knowingly employ people engaging in military activity".

- 'Critical requirement' -

NRC spokesperson Shaina Low told AFP its local staff are "exhausted" and international staff "bring them an extra layer of help and security. Their presence is a protection."

Submitting the names of local staff is "not negotiable", she said. "We offered alternatives, they refused," hse said, of the Israeli regulators.

The ministry said Thursday: "The primary failure identified was the refusal to provide complete and verifiable information regarding their employees, a critical requirement designed to prevent the infiltration of terrorist operatives into humanitarian structures."

In March, Israel gave NGOs 10 months to comply with the new rules, which demand the "full disclosure of personnel, funding sources, and operational structures".

The deadline expired on Wednesday.

The 37 NGOs "were formally notified that their licenses would be revoked as of January 1, 2026, and that they must complete the cessation of their activities by March 1, 2026," the ministry said Thursday.

A ministry spokesperson told AFP that following the revocation of their licences, aid groups could no longer bring assistance into Gaza from Thursday.

However, they could have their licences reinstated if they submitted the required documents before March 1.

Minister of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism Amichai Chikli said "the message is clear: humanitarian assistance is welcome -- the exploitation of humanitarian frameworks for terrorism is not".

- 'Weaponisation of bureaucracy' -

On Thursday, 18 Israel-based left-wing NGOs denounced the decision to ban their international peers, saying "the new registration framework violates core humanitarian principles of independence and neutrality".

"This weaponisation of bureaucracy institutionalises barriers to aid and forces vital organisations to suspend operations," they said.

UN Palestinian refugee agency chief Philippe Lazzarini had said the move sets a "dangerous precedent".

"Failing to push back against attempts to control the work of aid organisations will further undermine the basic humanitarian principles of neutrality, independence, impartiality and humanity underpinning aid work across the world," he said on X.

On Tuesday, the foreign ministers of 10 countries, including France and Britain, urged Israel to "guarantee access" to aid in the Gaza Strip, where they said the humanitarian situation remains "catastrophic".

A fragile ceasefire has been in place since October, following a deadly war waged by Israel in response to Hamas's unprecedented October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.

Nearly 80 percent of buildings in Gaza have been destroyed or damaged by the war, according to UN data.

About 1.5 million of Gaza's more than two million residents have lost their homes, said Amjad Al-Shawa, director of the Palestinian NGO Network in Gaza.

W.Richard--SMC