Humanitarian supplies destined for Gaza, bearing the logos of Médecins Sans Frontières and the World Health Organization, stored in the Egyptian Red Crescent warehouses in the border city of El-Arish, Egypt, on April 8, 2025. (Credit: Benoit Tessier/Reuters)
The Israeli government will suspend the licenses of more than 30 humanitarian organizations, including Doctors Without Borders (MSF), operating in the Gaza Strip, for failing to comply with its new rules applicable to aid groups working in the war-ravaged Palestinian enclave.
According to several regional media outlets, this decision, announced by the Israeli Ministry of Diaspora Affairs and the Fight Against Anti-Semitism, calls for the revocation of licenses from 37 humanitarian organizations, including MSF, Action Against Hunger, CARE, Caritas, Oxfam, ActionAid and the International Rescue Committee.
According to the ministry's statement, this suspension will take effect on Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026. It is based on alleged violations of new "transparency standards" for NGOs operating in the occupied Palestinian territories, claiming that the organizations had "refused to provide the list of their Palestinian employees, in order to rule out any ties to terrorism."
A consortium of international and local NGOs has already issued a joint statement urging the Israeli state to reverse this decision. According to the group, these NGOs "play an essential role in life-saving humanitarian operations" in the occupied Palestinian territories.
‘Catastrophic situation’
The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has "strongly condemned" the decision, recalling that "Israel has no sovereignty over the occupied Palestinian territories, including Jerusalem," and that the work of humanitarian agencies is "well-received and vital" for Palestinians.
The humanitarian situation in Gaza remains "catastrophic," warned the foreign ministers of 10 countries, including France and the United Kingdom, expressing concern over the "severe food insecurity" faced by "a majority" of the population.
This is not the first time Israel has sought to ban humanitarian NGOs from Gaza, even as its blockade on emergency aid into the Palestinian enclave remains in force despite the cease-fire agreement.
Over the past two years, Israel has particularly targeted programs run by UNRWA and its staff on the ground, to the point that the international agency for Palestinian refugees now operates under severe restrictions in the enclave.
On Wednesday, UNRWA said in a statement that "supplies, shelter, and food parcels for 1.1 million people are stored at the border and ready to enter Gaza" to respond to heavy rainfall and strong winds that hit the territory in recent days. But the agency says Israeli authorities are preventing it from delivering this aid.
Since the end of January 2025, Israeli authorities have not granted the necessary permits to UNRWA international staff to enter the occupied Palestinian territories, and delivery of aid has been further hampered by the creation of exclusive military zones in the 55 percent of Gaza controlled by the Israeli army under the Trump plan.
Rubio condemns Iran's 'outrageous' attacks on Kuwait
