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UN Chief Urges Israel to Lift Ban on Aid Groups in Gaza
UN Secretary-General António Guterres
UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Friday urged Israel to reverse its decision to suspend international humanitarian organisations operating in Gaza, warning that the move could deepen an already dire humanitarian crisis.
Expressing deep concern, Guterres said the ban threatens to undermine fragile progress achieved during the ceasefire and risks disrupting life-saving assistance to Palestinians. His spokesperson, Stéphane Dujarric, said international non-governmental organisations are indispensable to humanitarian relief efforts and their suspension could have severe consequences.
Israel on Thursday halted the operations of 37 foreign aid groups in Gaza after they declined to submit lists of their Palestinian staff to Israeli authorities. The suspension includes Doctors Without Borders (MSF), which employs around 1,200 staff in the Palestinian territories, most of them based in Gaza.
The affected organisations have been instructed to cease operations by March 1. Several NGOs have argued that the new requirements violate international humanitarian law and compromise their independence and neutrality.
Israeli authorities said the regulation is intended to prevent organisations accused of supporting terrorism from operating in the Palestinian territories.
The decision has drawn criticism within Israel as well. Eighteen Israeli left-wing NGOs issued a joint statement condemning the ban, saying the new registration framework violates core humanitarian principles.
A fragile ceasefire has been in place since October, following Israel’s military campaign launched in response to Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack. Gaza authorities have reported that more than 70,000 people have been killed since the conflict began.
According to UN data, nearly 80 percent of buildings in Gaza have been destroyed or damaged, while around 1.5 million of the enclave’s more than two million residents have been displaced, leaving infrastructure and essential services in ruins.