Gaza: Israel threatens to ban major aid organisations as starvation deepens

14 August 2025

Together with more than 100 organisations we are calling for an end to Israel’s weaponisation of aid.

Despite claims by Israeli authorities that there is no limit on humanitarian aid entering Gaza, most major international NGOs have been unable to deliver a single truck of lifesaving supplies since 2 March. 

Requests to deliver aid rejected

Instead of clearing the growing backlog of goods, Israeli authorities have rejected requests from dozens of NGOs to bring in lifesaving goods, citing that these organisations are “not authorised to deliver aid.”  
 
In July alone, over 60 requests were denied under this justification. This obstruction has left millions of dollars’ worth of food, medicine, water, and shelter items stranded in warehouses across Jordan and Egypt, while Palestinians are being starved. 

“Anera has over $7 million worth of lifesaving supplies blocked from entering Gaza – including 744 tons of rice, enough for 6 million meals, blocked in Ashdod just kilometers away,” said Sean Carroll, President and CEO of Anera. 

Many of the NGOs now told they are not “authorised” to deliver aid have worked in Gaza for decades, are trusted by communities and experienced in delivering aid safely. Their exclusion has left hospitals without basic supplies, children, people with disabilities, and older people dying from hunger and preventable illnesses, and aid workers themselves going to work hungry. 

“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.”

Sean Carroll, President and CEO of Anera

The obstruction is tied to new INGO registration rules introduced in March. Under these new rules, registration can be denied on the basis of vague and politicised criteria, such as alleged “delegitimisation” of the state of Israel. INGOs warned the process was designed to control independent organisations, silence advocacy, and censor humanitarian reporting. This new bureaucratic obstruction is inconsistent with established international law as it entrenches Israel’s control and annexation of the occupied Palestinian territory. 

Unless INGOs submit to the full registration requirements, including the mandatory submission of details of private donors, complete Palestinian staff lists and other sensitive information about personnel for so-called “security” vetting to Israeli authorities, many could be forced to halt operations in Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and remove all international staff within 60 days. Some organisations have even been issued a 7-day ultimatum to provide Palestinian staff lists. 

NGOs have made clear that sharing such data is unlawful (including under relevant data protection laws), unsafe, and incompatible with humanitarian principles. In the deadliest context for aid workers worldwide, where 98% 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. 

Registration system is blocking aid

Today, INGOs’ fears have proven true: the registration system is now being used to further block aid and deny food and medicine in the midst of the worst-case scenario of famine. 

“Since the full siege was imposed on 2 March, CARE has not been able to deliver any of our $1.5 million worth of pre-positioned supplies into Gaza,” said Jolien Veldwijk, Country Director of CARE. “This includes critical shipments of food parcels, medical supplies, hygiene kits, dignity kits, and maternal and infant care items. Our mandate is to save lives, but due to the registration restrictions civilians are being left without the food, medicine, and protection they urgently need.” 

“Oxfam has over $2.5 million worth of goods that have been rejected from entering Gaza by Israel, especially WASH and hygiene items as well as food,” said Bushra Khalidi, Oxfam Policy Lead. “This registration process signals to INGOs that their ability to operate may come at the cost of their independence and ability to speak out.” 

These restrictions are part of a broader strategy that includes the so-called “GHF” scheme – a militarised distribution mechanism promoted as a humanitarian solution. In reality, it is a deadly tool of control, with at least 859 Palestinians killed around “GHF” sites since it began operating. 

Starvation has been weaponised

“The militarised food distribution scheme has weaponised starvation and curated suffering. Distributions at GHF sites have resulted in extreme levels of violence and killings, primarily of young Palestinian men, but also of women and children, who have gone to the sites in the hope of receiving food,” according to Aitor Zabalgogeazkoa, MSF emergency coordinator in Gaza. 

Both the “GHF” scheme and the INGO registration process aim to block impartial aid, exclude Palestinian actors, and replace trusted humanitarian organisations with mechanisms that serve political and military objectives. They come as the government of Israel escalates its military offensive and deepens its occupation in Gaza. 

“At this point, everyone knows what the correct, humane answer is, and it’s not a floating pier, airdrops or the “GHF.” 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 Sean Carroll of Anera. 

We call on all states and donors to: 

  • Press Israel to end the weaponisation of aid, including through bureaucratic obstruction, such as the INGO registration procedures. 
  • Insist that INGOs are not forced to share sensitive personal information, in violation of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), or compromise staff safety or independence as a condition for delivering aid. 
  • Demand the immediate and unconditional opening of all land crossings and conditions for the delivery of lifesaving humanitarian aid. 

Context for this joint statement

  • The occupied Palestinian territory is the deadliest setting for aid workers worldwide, with Palestinian staff accounting for 98% of aid worker fatalities: 509 out of 517 killings that took place between 2023-2025, according to the Aid Worker Security Database. 
  • On 6 May, 55 organisations warned that Israel’s new INGO registration measures are a grave threat to humanitarian operations and international law. 
  • On 1 July, 200+ organisations called for immediate action to end the deadly Israeli distribution scheme, including the so-called “GHF” in Gaza, revert to the existing UN-led coordination mechanisms, and lift the Israeli government’s blockade on aid and commercial supplies. 
  • On 23 July, 100+ organisations warned that, as mass starvation spreads across Gaza, our colleagues and those we serve are wasting away. 
  • On 29 July, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) wrote that the worst-case scenario of famine is currently playing out in the Gaza Strip. 
  • Israel has consistently denied restricting the amount of aid allowed into Gaza, including throughout the period of July 2025, when most of the denials discussed in this statement were issued. 
  • On 31 July, OHCHR wrote that since 27 May, at least 1,373 Palestinians have been killed while seeking food; 859 in the vicinity of the “GHF” sites and 514 along the routes of food convoys. Most of these killings were committed by the Israeli forces. 
  • On 4 August, a Palestinian nurse in Gaza was killed when an airdrop struck him. 
  • On 5 August, it was reported that Israeli authorities are planning for the full occupation of the Gaza Strip. 
  • On 6 August, UN agencies and NGOs warned that without immediate action most international NGO partners could be de-registered by Israel in coming weeks. 
  • On 6 August, the Dutch Data Protection Authority (DPA) concluded that Israel’s information requests under the INGO registration process risk violating the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The DPA advised that INGOs should not comply with these requests, and that the only solution is for Israel to amend its requirements and for the relevant ministries to issue a formal protest. 
  • On 7 August, MSF released a report stating food distributions in Gaza run by the so-called “GHF” are sites of “orchestrated killing and dehumanization” that must be shut down.” 
  • On 10 August, Save the Children reported the deaths of 100 children due to starvation in Gaza since October 2023. 
  • On 12 August, a group of UN Special Rapporteurs on human rights published a letter to the Israeli government, stating deep concern that the INGO registration measures “weaken the ability of INGOs to operate independently and impartially and to carry out their humanitarian and human rights work without interference or fear of reprisal” and that “that the obligation to report on INGO personnel, in the context of occupation, armed conflict and serious violations of international law, could raise serious protection and reprisal concerns.” 

Signatories

1. A New Policy 
2. ACT Alliance 
3. ActionAid Denmark 
4. ActionAid International 
5. Action Against Hunger (ACF) 
6. Action For Humanity 
7. All We Can 
8. Alliance Sud 
9. American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) 
10. Americares 
11. Anera 
12. Asamblea de Cooperación por la Paz 
13. Bystanders No More 
14. Campaign Against Arms Trade 
15. Canadian Foodgrains Bank 
16. CARE 
17. Caritas Internationalis 
18. Caritas Jerusalem 
19. Caritas Middle East and North Africa 
20. Caritas Switzerland 
21. Center for Jewish Nonviolence 
22. Charity & Security Network 
23. ChildFund Alliance 
24. Children Not Numbers 
25. Christian Aid 
26. Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP) 
27. CISS – Cooperazione Internazionale Sud Sud 
28. Committee to Protect Journalists 
29. Comundo 
30. Cooperation Canada 
31. COORDINADORA VALENCIANA ONGD 
32. DanChurchAid 
33. Danish Refugee Council (DRC) 
34. Department of Service to the Palestinian Refugees 
35. Diakonia 
36. Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe 
37. EDUCO 
38. Embrace the Middle East 
39. Emergency – Life Support for Civilian War Victims Ong Ets 
40. Entreculturas 
41. Finn Church Aid (FCA) 
42. Forum Ziviler Friedensdienst e.V. (Pro Peace) 
43. Frieda – the Feminist Peace Organization 
44. Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL) 
45. Fund for Global Human Rights 
46. Glia 
47. HEKS/EPER (Swiss Church Aid) 
48. HelpAge International 
49. Humanitarian Coalition 
50. Humanity Auxilium 
51. Humanity & Inclusion – Handicap International 
52. Humanity First UK 
53. INARA 
54. Insecurity Insight 
55. International Development and Relief Foundation (IDRF) 
56. INTERSOS 
57. Islamic Relief 
58. Jahalin Solidarity 
59. Japan International Volunteer Center (JVC) 
60. Jüdische Stimme für Demokratie und Gerechtigkeit in Israel/Palästina JVJP Switzerland 
61. KinderUSA 
62. Kvinna till Kvinna Foundation 
63. La Coordinadora de Organizaciones para el Desarrollo (The Spanish Development NGO 
Platform) 
64. Médecins du Monde International Network 
65. Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) 
66. MedGlobal 
67. Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) 
68. medico international 
69. medico international schweiz 
70. Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) 
71. Middle East Children’s Alliance 
72. MPower Change Action Fund 
73. Muslim Aid 
74. Nonviolent Peaceforce 
75. NORWAC – Norwegian Aid Committee 
76. Norwegian Church Aid 
77. Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) 
78. Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) 
79. Oxfam 
80. Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund (PCRF) 
81. PANZMA – Palestinian Australian New Zealand Medical Association 
82. PARCIC 
83. Pax Christi International 
84. PAX for Peace 
85. Peace Watch Switzerland 
86. People in Need (PIN) 
87. Plan International 
88. Polish Humanitarian Action (PAH) 
89. Portuguese Platform of Development NGOs 
90. Premiere Urgence Internationale (PUI) 
91. Project HOPE 
92. Relief International 
93. Right to Play 
94. Sabeel-Kairos UK 
95. Saferworld 
96. Save the Children International 
97. Secours Islamique France (SIF) 
98. Solidar Suisse 
99. Solidarités International 
100. SWISSAID 
101. Terre des Hommes Italy 
102. Terre des Hommes Lausanne 
103. The Eastern Mediterranean Public Health Network (EMPHNET) 
104. The United Church of Canada 
105. United Against Inhumanity (UAI) 
106. Vento di Terra 
107. War Child Alliance 
108. Weltfriedensdienst e.V.

Categories: Emergencies Tags: Disaster relief, Food crisis

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