New Israeli legislation regulating foreign aid groups has prevented them from delivering much-needed supplies to Gaza as starvation in the enclave deepens, more than 100 NGOs said in a joint letter published on Thursday.
“Israeli authorities have rejected requests from dozens of NGOs to bring in life-saving goods, citing that these organisations are 'not authorised to deliver aid',” the letter said. According to the letter, whose signatories include Oxfam and Doctors Without Borders (MSF), at least 60 requests to bring aid into Gaza were rejected in July.
In March, Israel's government approved a new set of rules for foreign non-governmental organisations working with Palestinians.
“Despite claims by Israeli authorities that there is no limit on humanitarian aid entering Gaza, most major international NGOs have been unable to deliver a single truck of life-saving supplies since March 2,” the groups said.
Humanitarian groups have worked in the Gaza Strip for decades are now subjected to vetting, obstructing the delivery of aid.
The law updates the framework for how aid groups must register to maintain their status, along with provisions that outline how their applications can be denied or registration revoked. Registration can be rejected if authorities deem that a group denies the democratic character of Israel or “promotes delegitimisation campaigns” against the country.
“Oxfam has over $2.5 million worth of goods that have been rejected from entering Gaza by Israel, especially wash and hygiene items as well as food,” said Bushra Khalidi, policy lead at Oxfam. The supplies are now stuck in warehouses in Jordan and Egypt while the dire humanitarian situation in the enclave worsens.
The groups said the restrictions were part of a broader strategy that includes the scheme operated by the US and Israeli-run Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which they described as “militarised distribution”. The GHF sites have been mired in deadly violence since their inception.
“The militarised food distribution scheme has weaponised starvation and curated suffering,” Aitor Zabalgogeazkoa, MSF emergency co-ordinator in Gaza, said in the letter. “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.”
Israel has repeatedly accused Hamas of stealing aid entering Gaza, and since May the government has relied on the GHF to distribute supplies.
The groups called on Israel to end the weaponisation of aid through bureaucratic obstacles and demanded an unconditional opening of all land crossings. They said the enclave was the deadliest setting for aid workers, with Palestinian staff accounting for 98 per cent of those killed.
Israel has also faced intense criticism from governments all over the world, including France, Germany, the UK and some factions within the administration of US President Donald Trump, for starving Gazans and killing civilians on their way to receive aid from the GHF.
Israel announced it was easing aid access in July but delivery has remained severely constrained, with packages dropped in by plane.
Famine was declared in the enclave by an international hunger monitor last month. Humanitarian groups have also previously published similar letters warning of the spread of mass starvation and calling for an end to the GHF scheme.
Eight more Palestinians, including three children, died of malnutrition and starvation in Gaza on Wednesday, the Health Ministry said. This takes the number of hunger-related deaths during the conflict to 235, including 106 children, it added.
