Israel halts operations of aid groups in Gaza
JERUSALEM—Israel on Tuesday said it had 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 the aid organizations. But the organizations say the rules are arbitrary and warned that the new ban would harm a civilian population desperately in need of humanitarian aid.
Israel has claimed throughout the war that Hamas was siphoning off aid supplies, a charge the UN and aid groups have denied. The new rules, announced by Israel early this year, require aid organizations to register the names of their workers and provide details about funding and operations in order to continue working in Gaza.
Ideological requirements
The new regulations included ideological requirements—including disqualifying organizations that have called for boycotts against Israel, denied the Oct. 7 attack or expressed support for any of the international court cases against Israeli soldiers or leaders.
Israel’s Ministry of Diaspora Affairs said more than 30 groups—about 15 percent of the organizations operating in Gaza—had failed to comply and that their operations would be suspended. It also said that Doctors Without Borders, one of the biggest and best-known groups in Gaza, had failed to respond to Israeli claims that some of its workers were affiliated with Hamas or Islamic Jihad.
Catastrophic impact
“The message is clear: humanitarian assistance is welcome—the exploitation of humanitarian frameworks for terrorism is not,” Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli said.
Doctors Without Borders, also known by its French acronym MSF, said Israel’s decision would have a catastrophic impact on their work in Gaza, where they support around 20 percent of the hospital beds and a third of births. The organization also denied Israel’s accusations about their staff.
“MSF would never knowingly employ people engaging in military activity,” it said.
‘Exhausted local staff’
While Israel claimed the decision would have limited impact on the ground. the affected organizations said the timing—less than three months into a 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 in essential lifesaving assistance,” said Shaina Low, communications adviser for the Norwegian Refugee Council, which has also been suspended.
