On Tuesday, Israel warned that it would suspend the activities of several humanitarian organizations in the Gaza Strip starting in January, as they failed to provide detailed information about their Palestinian staff, LETA reported citing AFP.
The Ministry of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism stated that this step is part of Israel's decision to "tighten and update" the rules governing the activities of international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in this Palestinian region.
"Humanitarian organizations that do not meet security and transparency requirements will have their licenses suspended," the ministry's statement said.
It also noted that organizations that "did not cooperate and refused to provide a list of their Palestinian employees to exclude possible links to terrorism" have been officially notified that their licenses will be revoked as of January 1.
The specific names of these organizations are not disclosed, but they have been instructed to cease all activities by March 1.
The ministry explained that the organizations had 10 months to provide the requested information, but they "failed to meet the requirements."
This month, the ministry informed AFP that by November 25, about 100 registration applications had been submitted, of which only 14 were rejected. "The rest are approved or under review," the ministry added.
On Tuesday, in its statement following an investigation, the ministry claimed that the international organization "Doctors Without Borders" (Médecins Sans Frontières, MSF) had hired two individuals, one of whom was linked to Hamas militants, and the other to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group.
"Despite repeated requests, the organization did not provide complete information about the identity and role of these individuals," the ministry added.
In response, MSF stated to reporters that it "would never knowingly hire individuals involved in military activities," as this "would pose a threat to our staff and our patients."
The organization also reported that it "continues to engage in dialogue with Israeli authorities" and has "not yet received a decision on re-registration."
The ministry emphasized that these measures will not affect the delivery of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip. "Only a limited number of organizations — less than 15% — have been found to violate regulations," the statement said.
Several NGOs informed AFP that the new rules will significantly impact the distribution of aid in the Gaza Strip.
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