PARIS: New rules in Israel for registering non-governmental organisations, under which more than a dozen groups have already been rejected, could have a catastrophic impact on aid work in Gaza and the West Bank, relief workers warn.

The NGOs have until December 31 to register under the new framework, which Israel says aims not to impede aid distribution but to prevent “hostile actors or supporters of terrorism” operating in the Palestinian territories.

The controversy comes with Gaza, which lacks running water and electricity, still battling a humanitarian crisis even after the US-brokered October ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hamas, sparked by the Palestinian militant group’s October 7, 2023, attack on Israel.

Israel’s Ministry of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism said that, as of November 2025, approximately 100 registration requests had been submitted and “only 14 organisation requests have been rejected... The remainder have been approved or are currently under review”.

Requests are rejected for “organisations involved in terrorism, antisemitism, delegitimisation of Israel, Holocaust denial, denial of the crimes of October 7”, it said.

‘Very problematic’

The amount of aid entering Gaza remains inadequate. While the October 10 ceasefire agreement stipulated the entry of 600 trucks per day, only 100 to 300 are carrying humanitarian aid, according to NGOs and the United Nations.

The NGOs barred under the new rules include Save the Children, one of the best-known and oldest in Gaza, where it helps 120,000 children, and the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC).

They are being given 60 days to withdraw all their international staff from the Gaza Strip, the occupied West Bank, and Israel, and will no longer be able to send humanitarian supplies across the border to Gaza.

In Gaza, Save the Children’s local staff and partners “remain committed to providing crucial services for children”, such as psychosocial support and education, a spokeswoman said.

The forum that brings together UN agencies and NGOs working in the area on Thursday issued a statement urging Israel to “lift all impediments”, including the new registration process, that “risk the collapse of the humanitarian response”.

The Humanitarian Country Team of the Occupied Palestinian Territory (HCT) warned that dozens of NGOs face deregistration and that, while some had been registered, “these NGOs represent only a fraction of the response in Gaza and are nowhere near the number required just to meet immediate and basic needs”.

Published in Dawn, December 23rd, 2025