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This ban could deprive hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza of essential care, warns Doctors Without Borders.
Israel faces growing global condemnation over the ban on dozens of international humanitarian organizations working to provide lifesaving assistance to Palestinians in the War-ravaged Gaza Strip came into force.
On Thursday, a group of 17 human rights organizations in Israel condemned the ban, saying it “undermines the principles of humanitarian action, endangers staff and communities, and undermines the effectiveness of aid delivery.”
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“Israel, as the occupying power, has an obligation to ensure adequate supplies to Palestinian civilians. Not only is it failing to fulfill this obligation, it is also preventing others from filling the void,” the groups said.
Israel revoked the operating licenses of 37 humanitarian groupsnotably Doctors Without Borders, known by its French initials MSF, and the Norwegian Refugee Council, for failing to comply with new government regulations.
The new rules require international NGOs working in Gaza and the occupied West Bank to provide detailed information on their staff members, as well as their funding and operations.
Israel defended the decision by accusing international organizations working in Gaza of having links to Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad – without providing any evidence.
But experts say the demands contravene humanitarian principles and follow a long-running campaign by the Israeli government to defame and ultimately obstruct the work of humanitarian groups providing relief. aid to the Palestinians.
“The new registration framework violates fundamental humanitarian principles of independence and neutrality,” Israel-based rights groups including B’Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights-Israel said in a statement Thursday.
“Conditioning aid on political alignment, penalizing support for legal accountability, and requiring disclosure of sensitive personal data of Palestinian staff and their families all violate duty of care and expose workers to surveillance and harm. »
“Pattern of illegal restrictions”
The ban comes as Israel wages a genocidal war against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, imposing restrictions on deliveries of food, medicine and other humanitarian aid to the coastal territory.
Israeli violence has also intensified in the occupied West Bank, with the army forcing tens of thousands of Palestinians from their homes. Human Rights Watch described as war crimes and crimes against humanity.
In this context, UN human rights chief Volker Turk said earlier this week that Israel’s ban on NGOs is “the latest in a series of illegal restrictions on humanitarian access” to the occupied Palestinian territory.
Doctors Without Borders said in a social media post that as of Wednesday it was still waiting for its registration to be renewed to operate in Gaza and the West Bank under new Israeli rules.
“The Palestinian health system is decimated, essential infrastructure is destroyed and the population is struggling to meet their basic needs. The population needs more services, not fewer,” MSF said.
“If MSF and other INGOs lost access, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians would be deprived of essential care. »
Former UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths, who sits on the board of the Norwegian Refugee Council, told Al Jazeera he was not optimistic about what would happen next.
“The reality is that these agencies are essential to the delivery of aid – [and] “It’s the last mile, a phrase used in humanitarian operations to refer to those who actually deliver the aid to the people involved,” Griffiths said.
