Israeli ban on 37 aid organizations expected to have devastating impacts across Palestine
Trucks carrying aid provided by the World Food Programme (WFP) in Deir al-Balah
Qassam Muaddi and Tareq S. Hajjaj report in Mondoweiss on 13 January 2026 :
Israel’s decision to cancel the registration of 37 international aid organizations at the beginning of the year has dealt a severe blow to the international presence in Palestine. Beyond that, it has delivered a serious blow to Palestinian society itself. The banning of dozens of international NGOs threatens many social assistance and development programs, many of which are Palestinian-run and crucial to sustaining essential services in communities across Palestine.
The ban followed a new set of registration conditions imposed by Israel on international organizations earlier in December, including a requirement to provide Israeli authorities with the personal data of Palestinian staff. Israel said the 37 organizations failed to comply with this requirement, with Israeli Diaspora Affairs Minister, Amichai Chikli, saying the decision aimed to prevent the “exploitation of humanitarian aid for terrorism,” although Israel has never provided evidence of such links.
The decision includes several prominent international humanitarian organizations, such as Oxfam, Doctors Without Borders, the Norwegian Refugee Council, and even the Catholic Relief Services (Caritas), all of which were notified to cease operations in the Palestinian territories by March. The ban does not apply to any UN body.
The impact of the ban is expected to be felt most acutely in the Gaza Strip, where all two million Palestinians depend partly or entirely on humanitarian aid. Aid deliveries remain restricted following months of near-total shutdown prior to the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas that came into effect in October 2025.
The move was far from a surprise, according to Shaina Low, spokesperson for the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), who told Mondoweiss that Israeli authorities have been “restricting the work of international aid agencies for months.”
“Israel has been denying visas to our staff and has rejected 17 requests we made for allowing the entry of humanitarian aid to Gaza, in addition to movement restrictions,” Low said. “Then came the requirement to provide information about our staff, which we cannot do, because we are legally bound to protect the privacy of our workers, especially since we receive funding from European countries, which is also conditioned with the protection of our staff personal information in zones of conflict.”