Amid Forced Starvation in Gaza, NGO Coalition Decries Israel's New Registration Rules

A coalition of 55 international humanitarian groups operating in Palestine on Tuesday denounced Israel's new rules for registering foreign-based nongovernmental organizations, a move that came amid the Israeli government's forced starvation and "complete siege" of Palestinians deprived of lifesaving aid in the embattled Gaza Strip.

In March, a new law on the registration and visa issuance process for international non-governmental organizations (INGOs) took effect. Israeli and international critics condemned the new rules—which dozens of European lawmakers called "purposely vague" and "highly discretionary"—as aimed at barring INGOs from helping Palestinians, who are suffering from a genocidal invasion and siege in Gaza and decades of illegal occupation, apartheid, and colonization in the West Bank including East Jerusalem.

"Under the new provisions, INGOs already registered in Israel may face de-registration, while new applicants risk rejection based on arbitrary, politicized allegations, such as 'delegitimising Israel' or expressing support for accountability for Israeli violations of international law," the 55 groups said in an open letter.

"Other disqualifiers include public support for a boycott of Israel within the past seven years (by staff, a partner, board member, or founder) or failure to meet exhaustive reporting requirements," the letter states. "By framing humanitarian and human rights advocacy as a threat to the state, Israeli authorities can shut out organizations merely for speaking out about conditions they witness on the ground, forcing INGOs to choose between delivering aid and promoting respect for the protections owed to affected people."

"INGOs are further required to submit complete staff lists and other sensitive information about staff and their families to Israel when applying for registration," the signers noted. "In a context where humanitarian and healthcare workers are routinely subject to harassment, detention, and direct attacks, this raises serious protection concerns."

"These new rules are part of a broader, long-term crackdown on humanitarian and civic space, marked by heightened surveillance and attacks, and a series of actions that restrict humanitarian access, compromise staff safety, and undermine core principles of humanitarian action," the letter adds.

In addition to blocking or delaying aid shipments to Gaza under a siege and targeted starvation policy that United Nations experts have repeatedly called genocidal, Israeli forces have killed, wounded, kidnapped, tortured, and otherwise abused at least hundreds of aid workers; banned the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees; falsely accused humanitarian workers of being terrorists; obliterated Gaza's healthcare infrastructure; and much more.

Israel has also suspended the visas of foreign humanitarian officials and suspended the work permits for Palestinians in the illegally occupied West Bank. Meanwhile, Israeli lawmakers are debating legislation that would impose a tax of up to 80% on foreign government funding to INGOs and bar them from seeking legal redress.

In the United States, the administration of President Donald Trump has eliminated or dramatically reduced humanitarian funding, including via the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). This has forced numerous aid agencies to cut back or halt operations in Palestine.

"Under international humanitarian law, occupying powers are obligated to facilitate impartial humanitarian assistance and ensure the welfare of the protected population," the 55 INGOs said in their letter. "Any attempt to condition humanitarian access on political alignment or penalize organizations for fulfilling their mandate risks breaching this framework."

"The International Court of Justice ordered Israel to allow unimpeded delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza in three legally binding provisional measures orders in 2024," the letter adds. Israel has been accused of ignoring the orders by the ICJ, which is currently weighing a genocide case brought by South Africa against Israel.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant are also fugitives from the International Criminal Court, which last year issued arrest warrants for the pair for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in connection with the 19-month assault on Gaza that has left more than 185,000 Palestinians dead, injured, or missing and most of the coastal enclave's population forcibly displaced, starved, or sickened.

In a Tuesday interview with Al Jazeera, Bushra Khalidi, policy lead at the Jerusalem branch of Oxfam—one of the 55 groups that signed the letter—said that "Gaza is in the worst possible phase" since the beginning of Israel's onslaught, as mass starvation worsens amid a tightened blockade and pledges by Israeli leaders to conquer and ethnically cleanse the coastal enclave.

"We've not been able to operate, basically, since the second of March," she added. "Our food distribution has completely halted. We have nothing in the warehouses... Catastrophic doesn't even describe the situation in Gaza. It's hell."