UN Chief Urges Israel to Lift Ban on Aid Groups Operating in Gaza
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday called on Israel to reverse its decision to suspend dozens of foreign humanitarian organizations operating in Gaza, warning that the move would worsen an already dire humanitarian crisis.
Guterres said he was “deeply concerned” by the ban and urged Israeli authorities to reconsider the measure. His spokesperson, Stephane Dujarric, said the secretary-general stressed that international non-governmental organizations are essential to delivering life-saving aid and that their suspension risks undermining the limited progress achieved during the current ceasefire.
“This recent action will further exacerbate the humanitarian crisis facing Palestinians,” Dujarric said.
Israel on Thursday suspended 37 foreign humanitarian organizations from accessing the Gaza Strip after the groups declined to provide Israeli authorities with lists of their Palestinian employees. The ban includes Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières, MSF), which employs about 1,200 staff across the Palestinian territories, most of them in Gaza.
The affected organizations have been ordered to halt their operations by March 1. Several NGOs said the new requirements violate international humanitarian law and threaten their independence and neutrality.
Israeli officials said the regulations are intended to prevent organizations accused of supporting terrorism from operating in the Palestinian territories.
The decision drew criticism inside Israel as well. Eighteen Israel-based left-wing NGOs issued a joint statement condemning the ban, saying the new registration framework violates fundamental humanitarian principles of independence and neutrality.
A fragile ceasefire has been in place since October, following Israel’s war against Hamas after the group’s unprecedented October 7, 2023, attack on Israel. Gaza authorities said in November that more than 70,000 people had been killed since the war began.
According to United Nations data, nearly 80 percent of buildings in Gaza have been destroyed or damaged, leaving much of the territory’s infrastructure in ruins. About 1.5 million of Gaza’s more than two million residents have been displaced, according to Amjad Al-Shawa, director of the Palestinian NGO Network in Gaza.
