🚨UN agencies and more than 200 international and local NGOs operating in Palestine warned Wednesday that Israel’s new registration regime for international aid groups threatens to dismantle life-saving humanitarian operations in Gaza amid acute winter hardship and continued Israeli ceasefire violations. They said the policy is forcing aid organizations out with no replacement capacity, placing Palestinian lives at imminent risk. 📌 Here’s what to know: 1. Under the policy, dozens of INGOs face forced deregistration by Dec. 31, followed by closure within 60 days, putting roughly $1 billion in annual humanitarian aid at risk. 2. The UN and NGOs with the Humanitarian Country Team for Palestine said in a joint statement that the system relies on “vague, arbitrary, and politicized criteria” that force humanitarian organizations to choose between complying with Israeli political conditions or violating international humanitarian law and core humanitarian principles. 3. The impact, they warned, would be “immediate and catastrophic”: ▪️ INGOs underpin Gaza’s health system and humanitarian infrastructure. If they are forced out, 1 in 3 health facilities would close, 345 hospital beds would be lost overnight, and care for more than 20,000 patients per month would cease. ▪️ INGOs run or support 60% of field hospitals, deliver 293,000 medical consultations and 18,000 surgeries each month, and operate all five inpatient centers treating children with severe acute malnutrition—“100% of Gaza’s life-saving nutrition capacity.” 4. Millions of dollars’ worth of food, medical supplies, shelter, and hygiene items remain blocked outside Gaza, the statement said. The UN emphasized the humanitarian response cannot be replaced, especially after Israeli restrictions on UNRWA have already pushed operations to the brink, calling the obstruction of aid a violation of international law. 5. The UN and NGOs stressed that humanitarian access is not optional, but a legal obligation under international humanitarian law—and that in Gaza, Israel has failed to ensure civilians are adequately supplied.
