Gaza: Israel threatens to ban major aid organizations as starvation deepens

Over 100 organizations call for an end to Israel’s weaponization of aid

Despite claims by Israeli authorities that there is no limit on humanitarian aid entering Gaza, most major international non-government organizations (INGOs) have been unable to deliver a single truck of lifesaving supplies since March 2.

Instead of clearing the growing backlog of goods, Israeli authorities have rejected requests from dozens of NGOs to bring in lifesaving goods, citing that these organizations are “not authorized to deliver aid.” In July alone, over 60 requests were denied under this justification.

This obstruction has left millions of dollars’ worth of food, medicine, water and shelter items stranded in warehouses across Jordan and Egypt, while Palestinians are being starved.

“Anera has over $7 million worth of lifesaving supplies ready to enter Gaza – including 744 tons of rice, enough for six million meals, blocked in Ashdod just kilometers away,” said Sean Carroll, president and CEO of Anera.

Many of the NGOs now told they are not “authorized” to deliver aid have worked in Gaza for decades, are trusted by communities and experienced in delivering aid safely. Their exclusion has left hospitals without basic supplies, children, people with disabilities and older adults dying from hunger and preventable illnesses, and aid workers themselves going to work hungry.

The obstruction is tied to new INGO registration rules introduced in March. Under these new rules, registration can be denied on the basis of vague and politicized criteria, such as alleged “delegitimization” of the state of Israel. INGOs warned the process was designed to control independent organizations, silence advocacy and censor humanitarian reporting. This new bureaucratic obstruction is inconsistent with established international law as it entrenches Israel’s control and annexation of the occupied Palestinian territory.

Unless INGOs submit to the full registration requirements, including the mandatory submission of details of private donors, complete Palestinian staff lists and other sensitive information about personnel for so-called “security” vetting to Israeli authorities, many could be forced to halt operations in Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and remove all international staff within 60 days. Some organizations have even been issued a seven-day ultimatum to provide Palestinian staff lists.

NGOs have made clear that sharing such data is unlawful (including under relevant data protection laws), unsafe, and incompatible with humanitarian principles. In the deadliest context for aid workers worldwide, where 98 percent of those humanitarians killed were Palestinian, NGOs have no guarantees that handing over such information would not put staff at further risk, or be used to advance the government of Israel’s stated military and political aims.

Today, INGOs’ fears have proven true: the registration system is now being used to further block aid and deny food and medicine in the midst of the worst-case scenario of famine.

“Since the full siege was imposed on March 2, CARE has not been able to deliver any of our $1.5 million worth of pre-positioned supplies into Gaza,” said Jolien Veldwijk, country director of CARE. “This includes critical shipments of food parcels, medical supplies, hygiene kits, dignity kits and maternal and infant care items. Our mandate is to save lives, but due to the registration restrictions civilians are being left without the food, medicine, and protection they urgently need.”

“Oxfam has over $2.5 million worth of goods that have been rejected from entering Gaza by Israel, especially WASH [water and sanitation] and hygiene items as well as food,” said Bushra Khalidi, Oxfam policy lead. “This registration process signals to INGOs that their ability to operate may come at the cost of their independence and ability to speak out.”

These restrictions are part of a broader strategy that includes the so-called “GHF” scheme – a militarized distribution mechanism promoted as a humanitarian solution. In reality, it is a deadly tool of control, with at least 859 Palestinians killed around “GHF” sites since it began operating.

“The militarized food distribution scheme has weaponized starvation and curated suffering. Distributions at GHF sites have resulted in extreme levels of violence and killings, primarily of young Palestinian men, but also of women and children, who have gone to the sites in the hope of receiving food,” according to Aitor Zabalgogeazkoa, Doctors Without Borders/ Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) emergency coordinator in Gaza.

Both the “GHF” scheme and the INGO registration process aim to block impartial aid, exclude Palestinian actors and replace trusted humanitarian organizations with mechanisms that serve political and military objectives. They come as the government of Israel escalates its military offensive and deepens its occupation in Gaza, making clear these measures are part of a broader strategy to entrench control and erase Palestinian presence.

“At this point, everyone knows what the correct, humane answer is, and it’s not a floating pier, airdrops or the “GHF.” The answer, to save lives, save humanity and save yourselves from complicity in engineered mass starvation, is to open all the borders, at all hours, to the thousands of trucks, millions of meals and medical supplies, ready and waiting nearby,” said Sean Carroll of Anera.

We call on all states and donors to:

● Press Israel to end the weaponization of aid, including through bureaucratic obstruction, such as the INGO registration procedures.

● Insist that INGOs are not forced to share sensitive personal information, in violation of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), or compromise staff safety or independence as a condition for delivering aid.

● Demand the immediate and unconditional opening of all land crossings and conditions for the delivery of lifesaving humanitarian aid.

Signatories:

1. A New Policy

2. ACT Alliance

3. ActionAid Denmark

4. ActionAid International

5. Action Against Hunger (ACF)

6. Action For Humanity

7. All We Can

8. Alliance Sud

9. American Friends Service Committee (AFSC)

10. Americares

11. Anera

12. Asamblea de Cooperación por la Paz

13. Bystanders No More

14. Campaign Against Arms Trade

15. Canadian Foodgrains Bank

16. CARE

17. Caritas Internationalis

18. Caritas Jerusalem

19. Caritas Middle East and North Africa

20. Caritas Switzerland

21. Center for Jewish Nonviolence

22. Charity & Security Network

23. ChildFund Alliance

24. Children Not Numbers

25. Christian Aid

26. Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP)

27. CISS – Cooperazione Internazionale Sud Sud

28. Committee to Protect Journalists

29. Comundo

30. Cooperation Canada

31. COORDINADORA VALENCIANA ONGD

32. DanChurchAid

33. Danish Refugee Council (DRC)

34. Department of Service to the Palestinian Refugees

35. Diakonia

36. Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe

37. EDUCO

38. Embrace the Middle East

39. Emergency – Life Support for Civilian War Victims Ong Ets

40. Entreculturas

41. Finn Church Aid (FCA)

42. Forum Ziviler Friedensdienst e.V. (Pro Peace)

43. Frieda – the Feminist Peace Organization

44. Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL)

45. Fund for Global Human Rights

46. Glia

47. HEKS/EPER (Swiss Church Aid)

48. HelpAge International

49. Humanitarian Coalition

50. Humanity Auxilium

51. Humanity & Inclusion – Handicap International

52. Humanity First UK

53. INARA

54. Insecurity Insight

55. International Development and Relief Foundation (IDRF)

56. INTERSOS

57. Islamic Relief

58. Jahalin Solidarity

59. Japan International Volunteer Center (JVC)

60. Jüdische Stimme für Demokratie und Gerechtigkeit in Israel/Palästina JVJP Switzerland 61. KinderUSA

62. Kvinna till Kvinna Foundation

63. La Coordinadora de Organizaciones para el Desarrollo (The Spanish Development NGO Platform)

64. Médecins du Monde International Network

65. Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)

66. MedGlobal

67. Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP)

68. medico international

69. medico international schweiz

70. Mennonite Central Committee (MCC)

71. Middle East Children’s Alliance

72. MPower Change Action Fund

73. Muslim Aid

74. Nonviolent Peaceforce

75. NORWAC – Norwegian Aid Committee

76. Norwegian Church Aid

77. Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA)

78. Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC)

79. Oxfam

80. Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund (PCRF)

81. PANZMA – Palestinian Australian New Zealand Medical Association 82. PARCIC

83. Pax Christi International

84. PAX for Peace

85. Peace Watch Switzerland

86. People in Need (PIN)

87. Plan International

88. Polish Humanitarian Action (PAH)

89. Portuguese Platform of Development NGOs

90. Premiere Urgence Internationale (PUI)

91. Project HOPE

92. Relief International

93. Right to Play

94. Sabeel-Kairos UK

95. Saferworld

96. Save the Children International

97. Secours Islamique France (SIF)

98. Solidar Suisse

99. Solidarités International

100. SWISSAID

101. Terre des Hommes Italy

102. Terre des Hommes Lausanne

103. The Eastern Mediterranean Public Health Network (EMPHNET) 104. The United Church of Canada

105. United Against Inhumanity (UAI)

106. Vento di Terra

107. War Child Alliance

108. Weltfriedensdienst e.V.