UN rights chief slams ‘outrageous’ Israeli suspension of aid groups in Gaza

EU says move will block ‘life-saving aid’; Jerusalem introduced demands in March for detailed information on Palestinian staff; many organizations have not done so

The United Nations rights chief on Wednesday described Israel’s plan to suspend dozens of aid groups’ right to operate in Gaza starting in January as “outrageous,” calling on states to urgently insist Israel shift course. The EU warned the move would block “life-saving” assistance from reaching Gaza’s population.

“Such arbitrary suspensions make an already intolerable situation even worse for the people of Gaza,” the UN’s Volker Turk said in a statement.

His comment came after Israel said that 37 aid organizations will be banned from operating in Gaza starting on Thursday, unless they comply with its new guidelines requiring detailed information on Palestinian staff.

Israel has singled out international medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF), alleging that it had two employees who were members of Palestinian terror groups Islamic Jihad and Hamas.

Apart from MSF, some of the 37 organizations to be hit with the ban are Norwegian Refugee Council, World Vision International, CARE and Oxfam, according to the list given by the Diaspora Affairs Ministry.

In a statement on Wednesday, MSF urged Israel to allow it and other NGOs “to continue working in the West Bank and Gaza in 2026.”

Several groups have said the new rules will have a major impact on aid distribution in Gaza, with humanitarian organizations saying the amount of aid entering the region remains inadequate.

“This is the latest in a pattern of unlawful restrictions on humanitarian access,” Turk said, pointing to Israel’s ban on the UN agency supporting Palestinian refugees, UNRWA — which Jerusalem says has numerous staff members with ties to terror groups, including some who took part in the October 7, 2023, Hamas massacre — and “attacks on Israeli and Palestinian NGOs amid broader access issues faced by the UN and other humanitarians.”

“I urge all states, in particular those with influence, to take urgent steps and insist that Israel immediately allows aid to get into Gaza unhindered,” he said.

Turk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said he wanted to “remind the Israeli authorities of their obligation under international law to ensure the essential supplies of daily life in Gaza.”

This, he stressed, includes “allowing and facilitating humanitarian relief.”

EU humanitarian chief Hadja Lahbib posted on X: “The EU has been clear: The NGO registration law cannot be implemented in its current form.”

She said international humanitarian law “leaves no room for doubt: aid must reach those in need.”

Israel’s announcement came as the foreign ministers of 10 nations on Tuesday expressed “serious concerns” about a “renewed deterioration of the humanitarian situation” in Gaza, saying the situation as winter has intensified was “catastrophic.”

The Hamas terror group on Wednesday said the decision “constitutes a dangerous escalation and a blatant disregard for the humanitarian system.”

“We call on the international community, and the United Nations in particular… to take urgent and effective action to condemn this criminal behavior,” it added.

Israel’s Defense Ministry has insisted the expiration of the licenses will not affect aid provision in Gaza, where humanitarian groups continue to claim Israel is letting in too little assistance. The Diaspora Ministry described the new rules, instituted in March, as a safety measure meant to weed out nonprofit workers with ties to terror groups.

“The message is clear: Humanitarian assistance is welcome — the exploitation of humanitarian frameworks for terrorist purposes is unacceptable,” Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli said in a statement. “Israel will continue to protect its sovereignty, its citizens and the integrity of humanitarian action.”

Israeli authorities maintain that the new regulations are necessary due to findings by the security services that some nonprofit organization workers have been involved in terrorist activities. Israel has also accused terror groups of diverting aid.

The rules mean that, soon, some of the most prominent nonprofit groups working with Palestinians will no longer be allowed to operate in Gaza or the West Bank. The deadline for the groups to stop operations is March 1.

One of the groups, Refugees International, said in a statement that the action “has no legitimate basis, and as such, constitutes a violation of the intent of the Trump-brokered cease-fire agreement,” referring to the October ceasefire in Gaza backed by US President Donald Trump. “The suspension is not motivated by a sincere desire to prevent diversion of aid; it is a pretext to further restrict aid to Gaza while silencing independent aid organizations.”

“This action will cost the lives of Palestinians,” it warned.

The new rules required foreign nonprofits to file a raft of documentation about their organization and operations. They had to submit a list of all foreign and Palestinian employees involved in their operations, and provide those workers’ passport and personal identification numbers.

The resolution also enables an inter-ministerial team designated to review applications to deny registration to groups for a wide range of reasons. An organization can be disqualified if it denies the existence of the State of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state, “promotes delegitimization campaigns” against Israel, or if it, or any officeholder, has called for a boycott of Israel, among other conditions.