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Israel announced Tuesday it will suspend the operations of several humanitarian organizations working in Gaza, including Doctors Without Borders (Medecins Sans Frontieres), for failing to meet its new rules for verifying international organizations operating in the enclave.
Doctors Without Borders, known by its French name Medecins Sans Frontieres, is an international medical humanitarian organization that provides emergency health care in conflict zones, disaster areas and disease outbreaks.
Israel’s Ministry of Diaspora Affairs said the organizations whose operations will be barred starting Jan. 1 have not met its new requirements related to sharing information on staff, funding and operational activities.
The ministry accused Doctors Without Borders of failing to clarify the roles of some of its staff members, whom Israel has alleged cooperated with Hamas and other armed groups.
The ministry said 37 organizations have so far been affected by the suspension decision.
It added that the organizations have been informed their licenses will be revoked on Jan. 1 and that they must halt their activities by March 1 at the latest.
Doctors Without Borders warned in a statement last week that Israel’s newly imposed registration requirements could leave hundreds of thousands of people in the Gaza Strip without life-saving medical care by 2026.
Doctors Without Borders did not immediately comment on the Israeli decision.
The organization urged Israel to “ensure international NGOs are able to maintain and continue their neutral and independent response in Gaza.”
The statement added that no further restrictions should be imposed on humanitarian aid that is already severely limited.
Earlier this month, the United Nations and aid groups warned that humanitarian operations in the Palestinian territories, especially in Gaza, are at risk of collapse unless Israel removes obstacles, including a registration process they described as “problematic, arbitrary and highly politicized.”
Israel later escalated its measures targeting the U.N. agency. In mid-December, the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee approved a draft decision that would ban the provision of basic services, including water and electricity, to UNRWA facilities, a move Hamas said was aimed at “halting UNRWA’s activities.”
In a joint statement, the U.N. and more than 200 local and international relief organizations said dozens of international aid groups could face deregistration by Dec. 31.
The statement warned that “deregistering international NGOs in Gaza would have a catastrophic impact on access to essential, life-saving services.”
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