Israel delists international aid groups in Gaza, West Bank: NPR

AMMAN, Jordan — Israel, after banning the United Nations aid agency for Palestinian refugees from sending aid and personnel to Gaza, is now taking unprecedented steps to delist major nongovernmental humanitarian groups for ideological reasons, according to several officials at the organization. humanitarian organizations.

They say the new rules threaten the ability of some of the largest international non-governmental organizations – known as INGOs – to send aid or personnel to both Gaza and the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

“INGOs are in limbo – most of those who submitted applications were either rejected or rejected,” said an official at a humanitarian organization with knowledge of the situation, of the application process required for non-governmental humanitarian organizations operating in Gaza and the West Bank. The official spoke on the condition that NPR not name his employer or give his name because they are not authorized to speak publicly.

The ceasefire deal in the Gaza war negotiated this month by President Trump committed Israel to increasing aid to Gaza, where food security experts have declared famine in parts of the territory. But Israel continues to severely restrict the crossings open to aid shipments and determine who can deliver aid through those crossings. Of seven Israeli border crossings with Gaza, only two are currently open. Of those that are open, the UN and non-governmental humanitarian groups say many requests to enter Gaza are systematically rejected, without explanation.

The Israeli military has claimed, without providing evidence, that its aid restrictions are necessary for security purposes.

This fall, Israel began requiring all international aid groups to re-register under new criteria, including approval from a committee including representatives from Israel’s Ministry of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Anti-Semitism.

Reasons for delisting humanitarian groups include supporting “terrorist groups and activities in accordance with Israeli law” and “inciting racism,” according to COGAT, the Israeli military branch that participates in the NGO approval process. Aid organizations say this reasoning appears to be used to refer to a wide variety of comments that the Israeli government characterizes as anti-Semitic. Israel has in the past accused some humanitarian groups and medical providers of being terrorist organizations.

Israel had also required organizations to provide information on all local and international staff, a measure rejected by most major humanitarian groups because it potentially put staff at risk.

The Norwegian Refugee Council, registered in Gaza since 2009, is one of the main humanitarian groups unable to send supplies or personnel while its application is under consideration.

“We quickly realized that the intention behind this process was not to facilitate the re-registration of humanitarian INGOs but rather to find a way to re-register us and strip us of our ability to operate,” explains Ivan Karakashian, NRC communications manager in Jerusalem.

He said there were no clear guidelines as to what delegitimizing Israel entailed. Any delisted organization would have to cease operations in both Gaza and the Israeli-occupied West Bank within 60 days, according to humanitarian officials familiar with the criteria.

The Israeli military branch responsible for borders and coordination with INGO operations did not respond to NPR’s requests for comment on the reasons for the delisting or delayed registration of some organizations.

Many of these humanitarian groups waiting to be re-registered have hundreds of trucks waiting for months in Egypt and Jordan bound for Gaza.

Humanitarian officials said at least one major U.S.-based NGO had already been deregistered and was currently in the appeal process. The organization in question declined to discuss the matter with NPR.

Another U.S.-based humanitarian group, Mercy Corps, said that following the ceasefire agreement it submitted a request to send aid, but it was denied by Israeli authorities because the organization was in the process of re-registering.

Humanitarian officials said Israel has approved a dozen NGOs that do not coordinate within traditional U.N.-led structures and are either ideologically driven, inexperienced in humanitarian aid, or both. These include a US aid group that has partnered with the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation – a militarized humanitarian response that almost all other aid groups have refused to participate in.

COGAT did not respond to a request for comment on the newly registered humanitarian organizations.

At the same time, Israel continues to prohibit the United Nations agency responsible for helping Palestinian refugees, known as UNRWA, from sending aid or personnel to Gaza. Israel has accused UNRWA, without evidence, of employing hundreds of Hamas operatives, including some involved in the October 7, 2023 attack in Israel. Since the start of the war in Gaza, it has sought to replace the UN aid system which has provided humanitarian aid there for decades.

UNRWA, with 12,000 local staff, was the largest humanitarian organization in Gaza, running shelters, mobile medical clinics, water and sanitation projects, and schools.

“The warehouses in Jordan and Egypt are full of food that can feed the entire population of Gaza for three months and we need to bring it,” says Tamara Alrifai, UNRWA’s director of external relations. Supplies also include medicine, tents, blankets and hygiene products.

Israeli airstrikes have damaged or destroyed more than 90% of homes in Gaza and most civilian infrastructure, according to UN figures.

The United States, which was UNRWA’s largest donor, stopped funding last year, which Alrifai said led to a loss of about a quarter of UNRWA’s total revenue. Alrifai says that even though European and other countries have increased their contributions, this does not close the funding gap. The European Union’s top humanitarian aid official said that after Israeli accusations against UNRWA, he had not seen any evidence from Israel supporting the accusations.

Alrifai says UNRWA was trying to start discussions with the United States, through other countries, about renewing funding.

“We did not have direct discussions but we transmitted messages through other governments close to Gaza and the United States,” she said.

Aya Batrawy contributed reporting from Dubai, United Arab Emirates.