Several international humanitarian organizations, among them Doctors Without Borders, could be forced to halt their work in Gaza from Thursday after failing to meet Israel’s newly introduced registration requirements for aid groups operating in the besieged territory.
On Tuesday, Israel announced it would suspend the activities of international aid agencies that did not renew their registration under the new framework.
The process requires organizations working in Gaza to submit personal details of their staff members, a condition many groups say puts aid workers at serious risk.
Humanitarian agencies have consistently raised alarm over the new rules, warning that they compromise staff safety.
Israel’s decision comes amid growing international concern, with 10 countries cautioning that Gaza’s humanitarian situation is experiencing “renewed deterioration” and that conditions in the enclave “remain catastrophic.”
Much of Gaza has been reduced to rubble, and worsening winter weather has intensified the crisis. Heavy rainfall and falling temperatures have compounded already desperate living conditions for hundreds of thousands of displaced people.
Strong winds and flooding have torn through makeshift, waterlogged tents where many Palestinians are sheltering. According to Gaza’s Hamas-run Government Media Office, at least 20 people have died after homes and buildings collapsed as families sought refuge from the severe weather.
“As winter draws in, civilians in Gaza are facing appalling conditions with heavy rainfall and temperatures dropping,” the foreign ministers of Canada, the United Kingdom, Denmark, Finland, France, Iceland, Japan, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland said in a statement Tuesday.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk condemned Israel’s decision, describing the suspension of aid agencies as “outrageous” and part of a broader pattern of “unlawful restrictions on humanitarian access.”
Relief organizations warn that more than two dozen aid groups could be affected and say shutting them out of Gaza “will cost the lives of Palestinians.”
“Removing these humanitarian organizations now will deepen exposure, illness, and preventable deaths,” Refugees International said in a statement. “It is a pretext to further restrict aid to Gaza while silencing independent aid organizations.”
The European Union also raised concerns, warning that the registration rules would obstruct “life-saving aid.” “The NGO registration law can not be implemented in its current form. All barriers to humanitarian access must be lifted,” EU humanitarian chief Hadja Lahbib wrote on X.
Israel maintains that the registration process is designed to prevent Hamas from exploiting international assistance, an assertion rejected by the UN and humanitarian organizations.
A US government review earlier this year found no evidence of widespread aid diversion by Hamas, contradicting claims previously made by Israel and the US State Department.
“The registration requirement is aimed at preventing the involvement of terrorist elements and at safeguarding the integrity of humanitarian activity, as demonstrated in past cases,” the Israeli foreign ministry said in a statement.
Aid groups raise alarm over registration rules
UN agencies and humanitarian organizations say they were notified in March that compliance with the new rules was mandatory. Israel said groups that failed to renew their registration were informed their authorization would expire on January 1, with operations expected to cease two months later.
Israel’s aid coordination body, COGAT, said MSF “chose not to cooperate with the registration process and refused to provide Israel’s Ministry of Diaspora Affairs with a list of its employees, as required by a government decision.”
Aid organizations have strongly opposed the requirements.
“The system relies on vague, arbitrary, and highly politicized criteria and imposes requirements that humanitarian organizations cannot meet without violating international legal obligations or compromising core humanitarian principles,” the Humanitarian Country Team of the Occupied Palestinian Territory said in December.
Oxfam, in May, warned that demands for staff lists and personal information, including details about employees’ families — were especially dangerous following deadly attacks on aid workers.
“In a context where humanitarian and healthcare workers are routinely subject to harassment, detention, and direct attacks, this raises serious protection concerns,” Oxfam said.
MSF, one of the largest medical providers in Gaza, warned that losing access would have devastating consequences.
“If MSF loses its access to Gaza in 2026, due to the Israeli authorities, a large portion of people in Gaza will lose access to critical medical care, water, and lifesaving support,” the organization said earlier this month. “MSF’s activities serve nearly half a million people in Gaza through our vital support to the destroyed health system.”
COGAT insisted that the suspension would not affect aid flows, claiming the affected groups had not delivered aid during the current ceasefire. It said 4,200 trucks would continue entering Gaza weekly through the UN, donor states, private companies, and more than 20 registered international organizations.
However, more than 40 aid groups, including MSF and Oxfam, said in October that Israel had continued to “arbitrarily reject shipments of life-saving assistance” even during the ceasefire.
They reported that urgent deliveries of water, food, tents, and medical supplies were blocked because organizations were deemed “not authorized” to operate.
The 10 foreign ministers urged Israel to take “urgent and essential steps,” including ensuring international NGOs can remain active in Gaza and allowing the UN and its partners to operate freely.
They also called for border crossings to be opened and humanitarian aid flows increased.
According to the statement, at least 1.3 million people still urgently need shelter, while more than half of Gaza’s health facilities are only partially operational due to shortages of critical medical supplies. Around 740,000 people are at risk from toxic flooding caused by the collapse of sanitation systems.
Over the weekend, Gaza’s civil defense reported that severe weather led to further fatalities, including the death of a 7-year-old child after a wall collapsed on Sunday.
Israel’s foreign ministry dismissed the joint statement, calling it “false but unsurprising.”
It accused the countries of making “detached criticism and one-sided demands on Israel, while deliberately ignoring the essential requirement of disarming Hamas – a prerequisite for the security of Israel and the region.”
The ministry also said the statement overlooked what it described as a “significant improvement in the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip since the ceasefire,” crediting Israel’s cooperation with the United States.
Netanyahu in the United States
The international concern over Gaza’s winter crisis coincides with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to the United States, where he received a warm welcome from President Donald Trump.
In an interview aired Tuesday, Netanyahu told Fox News’ Brett Baier that establishing a new government in Gaza by 2026 would only be possible if Hamas is disarmed.
“A new government in Gaza is possible if you disarm Hamas,” Netanyahu said. “No one’s going to come in there if Hamas stays armed and will put a bullet right through the back of their head, of any potential new government.”
“If we disarm Hamas, whether with an international force or by any other means, yes, I see a different future for Gaza.”
The interview followed Netanyahu’s meeting with Trump in Florida, where he said the two leaders “saw eye to eye” and denied that Trump had expressed frustration over Israel’s recent strikes.
“He understands,” Netanyahu said.
Hamas, however, rejected calls for disarmament. In a statement on Monday, the group’s new spokesperson said, “our people are defending themselves and will not give up their weapons as long as the occupation remains.”
