Israel will implement new, stricter visa and registration rules for international aid organizations operating in the Palestinian territories, according to the Washington Post. The non-governmental organizations (NGOs) involved argue that these restrictions endanger their staff, politicize their work, and hinder relief efforts in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

The measures announced by Israel grant Israeli authorities broad power to reject the registration of NGOs providing assistance to Palestinians, based on a wide range of criteria.

Among the criteria: if an NGO or its employees have previously called for a boycott of Israel, denied its existence “as a Jewish and democratic state,” or expressed support for legal action against Israeli citizens in international courts for actions taken while serving in the military or any security agency.

Aid groups are particularly concerned about a provision requiring them to submit the names, contact details, and identification numbers of Palestinian employees, a measure Israel deems necessary to verify potential links to militants. More than 300 humanitarian workers were killed during the Gaza war, the majority of whom were Palestinians.

Registration in Israel is mandatory for international humanitarian groups seeking to access the Palestinian territories — home to approximately 5 million people — and facilitates visas, permits, financial transactions, and other logistics essential for large-scale aid operations. However, although NGOs have been operating in Israel for decades, this decision to limit their activities is part of a broader Israeli effort to restrict aid delivery to Gaza and reduce the political and legal space in which humanitarian groups function.

Renforcement des restrictions sur les ONG dans les territoires palestiniens