AhlulBayt News Agency: Doctors Without Borders (MSF) warned on Monday about new Israeli measures regarding the registration of international organizations operating in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, which could put humanitarian activities at risk.
On November 5, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz revealed a new Israeli procedure that forced dozens of humanitarian organizations working in Gaza and the occupied West Bank to halt their activities.
The newspaper explained that the procedure "tightens the conditions for organizations to enter Gaza and the West Bank, requiring them to provide details about their staff and their families."
MSF stated in a press release: "The new Israeli rules for registering international NGOs may leave hundreds of thousands of people in Gaza without access to life-saving healthcare by 2026."
It added: "These new requirements threaten to revoke the registration of these organizations as of January 1 next year."
The organization also warned that failure to comply with the Israeli procedure would prevent organizations, including MSF, from providing essential services to people in Gaza and the West Bank.
The loss of independent humanitarian organizations with expertise in access and response to the needs in Gaza, amid the devastation of the health system there, was described as "the real disaster."
The international organization called on Israel to "ensure that international NGOs can maintain their independent and impartial response in Gaza and continue it."
MSF emphasized that humanitarian response in Gaza is already constrained and cannot withstand "further dismantling."
Pascal Quasar, MSF’s emergency coordinator in Gaza, said that last year the organization’s teams treated "hundreds of thousands of patients and provided hundreds of millions of liters of water, while planning to expand activities and support Gaza’s devastated health system."
MSF teams provided 800,000 consultations in outpatient clinics in 2025 and handled more than 100,000 severe injury cases.
Israel approved the new registration procedure for organizations in March, after transferring the responsibility from the Ministry of Welfare to the Israeli Ministry of Diaspora Affairs, headed by Amichai Shikli (Likud), according to Haaretz.
Under this procedure, organizations must submit extensive documentation to Israel, including a list of all foreign and Palestinian staff and information about their family members.
The Ministry of Diaspora now has broad authority to reject applications and may deny an organization if it "denies Israel as a Jewish and democratic state or works to delegitimize Israel," according to the newspaper.
Another reason for rejecting an NGO is supporting the trial of Israeli citizens in a foreign country or before an international court, referring to alleged crimes during the Gaza war.
An organization can also be rejected if any staff member "publicly called for a boycott of Israel in the seven years preceding the registration request."
From the beginning of September to November, the Ministry rejected 14 out of 100 requests from organizations, while the rest remain under review.
Some of the largest international NGOs, such as Oxfam, Save the Children, and the Norwegian Refugee Council, are still waiting for responses.
Despite the ceasefire between Palestinian factions and Israel that took effect on October 10, the humanitarian situation in Gaza remains extremely difficult due to Israeli restrictions on aid, relief, and medical supplies.
Israel has failed to meet its obligations under the Gaza ceasefire agreement, preventing agreed-upon aid from entering and violating the agreement with attacks that have resulted in 401 Palestinian deaths and 1,108 injuries since the ceasefire began.
Israel started a two-year-long genocidal war in Gaza on October 8, 2023, resulting in about 71,000 Palestinian deaths, over 171,000 injuries, and massive destruction affecting 90% of infrastructure, with UN-estimated reconstruction costs of approximately $70 billion.
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