International medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said Wednesday it has urged Israel to allow the organization to continue its operations in Gaza and the occupied West Bank in 2026, amid ongoing humanitarian crises.
"We call on the Israeli authorities to ensure that MSF and other INGOs (international non-governmental organizations) are registered in Israel to continue working in the West Bank and Gaza in 2026," MSF told AFP in a statement.
Israel plans to ban 37 aid groups, including MSF, from operating in Gaza from Thursday unless they hand over detailed information on their Palestinian staff.
The United Nations rights chief described Israel's threat to suspend dozens of aid groups from operating in Gaza from January as "outrageous," calling on states to urgently insist Israel shift course.
"Israel's suspension of numerous aid agencies from Gaza is outrageous," Volker Turk said in a statement.
"Such arbitrary suspensions make an already intolerable situation even worse for the people of Gaza," he warned.
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 MSF, alleging that it had two employees who were members of Palestinian resistance groups, Islamic Jihad and Hamas.
Apart from MSF, some of the 37 NGOs to be hit with the ban are Norwegian Refugee Council, World Vision International, CARE and Oxfam, according to the list given by Zwick.
Several NGOs have told AFP 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 U.N. agency supporting Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, and "attacks on Israeli and Palestinian NGOs amid broader access issues faced by the U.N. 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.
The U.N. 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."
