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All Eyes on Gaza: Israel bans international NGOs amid deepening humanitarian crisis


Israeli authorities have announced new registration measures that could effectively ban international humanitarian NGOs (INGOs) from operating in Gaza and the occupied Palestinian territory. On 30 December 2025, 37 organisations were officially notified that their registrations would expire on 31 December, triggering a 60-day period after which those that do not comply with the new requirements would be required to cease operations.

The measures require INGOs to comply with new registration and information-sharing requirements in order to continue operating, including the disclosure of personal information about national staff. Several organisations have stated that this would expose staff and their families to serious safety risks and would breach humanitarian principles, duty-of-care responsibilities and widely applied data-protection standards. As a result, some organisations have said they cannot comply, leading to the suspension of their registrations.

Humanitarian organisations stress that these measures go far beyond technical or administrative requirements and have the effect of systematically obstructing humanitarian assistance at scale.

VOICE members among the organisations affected

More than half of the organisations affected by the ban are VOICE members, including Action Against Hunger, Alianza por la Solidaridad, CARE, Caritas, DanChurchAid (DCA), Danish Refugee Council (DRC), Handicap International, International Rescue Committee (IRC), Médicos del Mundo (MDM), Médecins du Monde (MdM), Medico International, Mercy Corps, Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), Oxfam, Relief International, Save the Children, Terre des Hommes, War Child and WeWorld.

A direct threat to humanitarian action

International humanitarian NGOs play a central role in the response in Gaza. INGOs deliver more than half of all food assistance, operate around 60 % of field hospitals and carry out nearly three-quarters of shelter and non-food item activities. Their removal would close health facilities, halt food distributions, disrupt shelter pipelines and cut off life-saving care for the most vulnerable civilians.

VOICE calls for urgent international action

VOICE calls on the international community to urgently ensure:

  • The immediate reversal of measures that restrict or suspend the work of international humanitarian NGOs
  • Unimpeded humanitarian access to Gaza and the occupied Palestinian territory
  • Respect for international humanitarian law, including the protection of civilians, humanitarian personnel and humanitarian principles
  • The removal of administrative and political restrictions that prevent humanitarian organisations from delivering impartial, life-saving assistance

VOICE calls on the EU and Member States to sustain diplomatic pressure to uphold international humanitarian law and ensure humanitarian access.

 

Member articles and reactions

VOICE members have published statements and articles responding to the ban, including:

(among others)

 

Photo by Emad El Byed

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The views expressed herein should not be taken, in any way, to reflect the official opinion of the European Commission.