Even before Israel’s campaign of collective punishment in Gaza began in October 2023, life for many in the Palestinian enclave was difficult. However, despite high unemployment, overcrowding and an Israeli blockade punctuated by periodic bombardments, the spectre of starvation was unknown.
That has changed in the past two years. Speaking to The National this week, mother-of-three Maryam Sheehan said that before the war she’d never heard of the Norwegian Refugee Council. Now, the NGO is all that stands between her family and hunger. Ms Sheehan fears the worst after Israel banned the NRC and more than 30 other international humanitarian organisations from operating in the ruined territory, claiming they failed to comply with new registration rules.
The consequences of this decision are literally life-and-death ones. More than two million Palestinians – almost Gaza's entire population – depend on humanitarian agencies after the Israeli military destroyed hospitals, homes, infrastructure and agriculture. Israel claims that its registration procedures are for its security, to weed out infiltrators and prevent the importation of dual-use items into Gaza that could be diverted by militants who want to rearm. Much of the international community disagrees, seeing instead an agenda to further cut Palestinians in Gaza off from the outside world.
Last month, the UN said countries and NGOs should press Israel to lift restrictions it described as “vague, arbitrary and highly politicised”. Those on the ground in Gaza concur, with on team leader from Doctors Without Borders telling The National this week that the aid restrictions were not a novel development. “Israel invents new accusations each time,” they said, “political affiliation, security allegations and now the claim of failing to renew registration”. In fact, it is often the case that aid workers have more to fear from Israel than the other way round; at the end of September, the UN said more than 500 personnel had been killed in Gaza since the war began.
When one looks at the detail of these restrictions, it is possible to detect a campaign aimed less at ensuring security and more of punishing those who have criticised the Israeli state. Some regulations disqualify organisations that have called for boycotts against Israel, denied the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, that led to the war, or expressed support for any of the international court cases taking place against Israeli soldiers or leaders.
An obvious consequence is the undermining of lifesaving humanitarian aid at a time when civilians in Gaza are struggling to get by in freezing winter conditions. This suits the agenda of some leading Israelis but it also represents an expansion the long-term campaign waged against UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees. Israel’s government has worked hard to discredit this organisation, accusing it of harbouring Palestinian militants. In reality, the very existence of UNRWA shone a spotlight on Palestinian displacement and Israel’s continuing illegal occupation; this was enough to earn it Israel’s enduring animosity.
With the US increasingly occupied with the fallout from its purported plan to “run” Venezuela after abducting President Nicolas Maduro, there has been an accompanying lack of focus on the 20-point peace plan for Gaza championed by President Donald Trump. At the same time, Israeli restrictions mean much of the international media is unable to get reporters into the Palestinian territory independently; a recent submission by the Israeli government to the country’s Supreme Court has asked for an extension of the ban.
Ms Sheehan’s family is just one of thousands who are feeling the pain of this isolation. In the longer-term sense, these punitive restrictions will have consequences for a peace plan that is looking increasingly uncertain. Israel may not feel any urgency to change direction but leaving Gaza to fester in hunger, disease and poverty is more of a danger than it may appreciate.
