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Israel vetoes 37 NGOs operating in Gaza

Israel has withdrawn licences from international humanitarian organizations (Médecins sans Frontières and UNRWA) and demanded that they cease their activities and leave Gaza before 1 March for failing to complete a controversial registration process.

Gaza, 31/12/2025.- Las intensas lluvias que han golpeado Gaza desde mediados de diciembre han afectado a al menos 235.000 gazatíes que viven desplazados, según cifras ofrecidas este lunes por la Agencia de la ONU para los Refugiados Palestinos (UNRWA por sus siglas en inglés). EFE/Ahmad Awad

This Thursday, 1 January, the Israeli vetoon 37 international NGOs operating in the occupied Gaza Strip and the West Bank entered into force, as its foreign workers will have to leave the Palestinian Strip before 1 March, which is the deadline given to them by the Israeli Government to cease their activities.

The Israeli Government announced this week the withdrawal of licences to these organisations, saying that they have not completed the registration process that it approved in March 2025, and the measure has been strongly criticised by the NGOs.

Israel argued in this process "security reasons" for detecting "terrorists" and, among other things, the Israeli Government must provide sensitive information, including the names of all its personnel.

A total of 37 NGOs from 16 countries are affected: Spain, the Netherlands, Japan, the United States, Switzerland, Sweden, France, the United Kingdom and Canada, including Médecins sans Frontières (MSF), Action against Hunger, OXFAM, Caritas, Movement for Peace, World Vision and the Norwegian Refugee Council.

Israel is the country where these NGOs operate in the Palestinian territories, because it is the Israeli Government that grants visas to its workers and controls all access to both Gaza and the West Bank.

The organizations warn of the "catastrophic" effects of the suspension on the population of Gaza: most of the two million people currently live in tents as a result of the Israeli violent offensive in Gaza for two years, which has left nearly 80% of its infrastructure damaged or completely destroyed.

The measure will not affect UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, and is not on the list of 37 international NGOs vetoed this time. However, the agency is experiencing a parallel conflict with Israel, which has pushed for specific legislation to restrict or ban its operations, a decision other than the administrative process now applied to non-governmental organizations, and which has been strongly criticised by the United Nations and the international community for its humanitarian impact on Gaza and the West Bank.

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