In a sharply worded statement issued on Tuesday, the Humanitarian Country Team – which brings together senior UN officials and more than 200 local and international aid groups – called on the international community to press Israeli authorities to reverse measures that are choking humanitarian work, particularly in the Gaza Strip.
At the centre of concern is a new registration system for international non-governmental organisations, introduced earlier this year.
Flawed Israeli system
Aid groups say the process is vague, politicised and impossible to meet without breaching humanitarian principles.
Under the current rules, dozens of organisations face deregistration by the end of December, followed by the forced closure of their operations within weeks.
“These organisations are not optional extras,” the statement said. “If they are pushed out, the humanitarian response will not survive.”
International NGOs, working alongside UN agencies and Palestinian partners, deliver around one billion dollars’ worth of assistance each year across the territory.
Yet millions of dollars’ worth of food, medicines, hygiene supplies and shelter materials are now stuck outside Gaza, unable to reach families in need.
The warning comes as winter deepens and amid fears that further restrictions could destabilise a fragile ceasefire.
Impossible loss
Aid agencies stressed that the impact of losing international NGOs could not be absorbed by the UN or local groups, especially after Israeli limits on Palestine refugee relief agency, UNRWA, have already stretched the response to breaking point.
According to the Humanitarian Country Team, international NGOs support or run much of Gaza’s basic infrastructure for survival.
They underpin field hospitals and primary health clinics, provide clean water and sanitation, distribute emergency shelter, and treat children suffering from severe malnutrition.
Health facilities will close
If they are forced to leave, one in three health facilities in Gaza would close almost immediately, cutting off care for tens of thousands of patients.
Aid leaders said they had repeatedly raised these concerns with Israeli authorities and sought workable solutions to keep operations running.
“There has been no adjustment,” the statement said, warning that the dismantling of NGO operations now appears imminent.
Humanitarian access, the agencies insisted, is a legal obligation, not a political choice.
“Lifesaving assistance must be allowed to reach Palestinians without further delay,” the statement concluded, urging Israel to allow rapid and unimpeded aid deliveries and to ensure that humanitarian organisations can operate independently and safely.
Without swift action, the team warned, the consequences for civilians in Gaza would be catastrophic.
