Israel is continuing to starve Gaza while banning nongovernmental organizations from delivering aid unless they hand over details of their Palestinian staff, more than 100 nonprofit groups have said.
Most humanitarian groups have not been able to deliver any aid since March 2, despite Israel’s claims there are no limits on humanitarian aid entering Gaza, the NGOs said a joint statement on Thursday.
In July, Israel denied more than 60 requests from nonprofits to supply aid to Gaza because the organizations were “not authorized” under NGO registration rules introduced in March, the statement said.
Those rules allow the government to deny registration on the basis of what NGOs called “vague and politicized” criteria, including alleged “delegitimization” or calls for a boycott of the state of Israel. Registration also requires NGOs to provide details of private donors, complete Palestinian staff lists and personnel data.
Israel gave some NGOs a seven-day ultimatum to provide the missing information or have their registration applications canceled, according to the statement, signed by 104 NGOs, and an email seen by POLITICO.
NGOs have said they can’t hand over the data, both because it is unlawful and because they fear for their workers’ safety.
“In the deadliest context for aid workers worldwide, where 98 percent of those humanitarians killed were Palestinian, NGOs have no guarantees that handing over such information would not put staff at further risk, or be used to advance the government of Israel’s stated military and political aims,” the statement said.
More than 400 humanitarian workers have died in Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023, according to the United Nations. The U.N.’s Palestinian refugee agency, UNRWA, said the “vast majority” of its staff who have died were killed by Israeli forces.
EU foreign ministers this week urged Israel to “unblock” NGOs and facilitate widespread entry of food into Gaza. The foreign ministers of Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Germany, Hungary, Poland and Romania did not sign.
The EU has so far taken no joint action against Israel, despite an internal review finding “indications” Israel had broken its human rights obligations under the EU-Israel Association Agreement. Israel’s occupation of Gaza and other Palestinian territories is is illegal, according to an International Court of Justice ruling in July.
More than 200 people have starved to death in Gaza since Oct. 2023, including 106 children, Palestinian health officials said Aug. 13. The numbers include eight who died in the previous 24 hours.
Israeli restrictions on food, including a total ban between March and May, have brought Gaza to the point of “unfolding famine,” scientists have warned. European Commission Vice President Teresa Ribera told POLITICO’s Brussels Playbook that Israel’s conduct in Gaza “looks very much” like genocide, a charge denied by Israel.
Just 1,535 aid trucks have entered Gaza over the past 17 days, far short of what is needed to meet the minimum needs of the territory’s 2.4 million people, Palestinian health officials said Aug. 13. Israel and European governments, including France, Germany and Spain, have organized airdrops, but NGOs say these are a dangerous and unhelpful distraction. Palestinian nurse Oday al-Quraan was killed by an air-dropped parcel on Aug. 4, The Independent reported.
U.S. nonprofit Anera said it had $7 million worth of aid stranded in Ashdod, several kilometers from Gaza, because of Israeli restrictions. “The answer, to save lives, save humanity and save yourselves from complicity in engineered mass starvation, is to open all the borders, at all hours, to the thousands of trucks, millions of meals and medical supplies, ready and waiting nearby,” said Anera’s president and CEO Sean Carroll.
POLITICO has contacted the Israeli government for comment.
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