In Gaza – the deadliest place in the world for aid workers – an unparalleled, Israel-created humanitarian collapse is unfolding alongside a political crackdown on the very organisations struggling to keep people alive. Starvation is being weaponised, with most International NGOs – some who have delivered aid in the occupied Palestinian territory for decades – unable to deliver a single truck of lifesaving supplies since 2 March.
Israel silencing INGOs operating in Gaza
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 authorized to deliver aid”.
In July alone, over 60 requests were denied under this justification. While millions of pounds worth of food, medicine, and other essential items are now stranded at the borders, and in warehouses across Jordan and Egypt, aid agencies say they are now being pushed out, under bureaucratic new rules introduced in March by the occupation.
International non-governmental organisations (INGOs) are now required to register with the occupation or lose permission to operate.
Registration can be denied under vague, politicised criteria, such as alleged efforts to ‘delegitimise’ the state of Israel, or expressing support for accountability for Israeli violations of international law.
Other disqualifiers include public support for a boycott of the occupation within the past seven years – by staff, a partner, board member, or founder – failure to meet exhaustive reporting requirements, or merely speaking out about conditions they witness on the ground. It’s forcing INGOs to choose between delivering aid and promoting respect for the protections owed to affected people.
According to Bushra Khalidi, Oxfam policy lead:
Oxfam has over $2.5 million worth of goods that have been rejected from entering Gaza by Israel. This registration process signals to INGOs that their ability to operate may come at the cost of their independence and ability to speak out.
Only allowed to operate if they give the occupation their sensitive data
INGOs must also hand over sensitive donor information and full lists of Palestinian staff for so called ‘security vetting’, which could not only breach General Data Protection Regulation privacy laws, but also endanger staff safety. If they refuse, they could be shut down in Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem within weeks.
Back in May, 55 organisations warned that these new measures could:
cripple independent humanitarian operations and undermine international law.
They said it would mark a serious escalation in restrictions on humanitarian and civic space, setting a dangerous precedent. UN agencies and NGOs have warned that without immediate action, most international NGO partners could be de-registered by the occupation by 9 September or sooner, forcing them to withdraw all international staff and preventing them from providing critical, life-saving humanitarian assistance to Palestinians.
A group of UN Special Rapporteurs on human rights have also spoken out, publishing a letter to the Israeli government on August 12, 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 they said 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.
‘Authorisation’ denials
Despite the Israeli occupation’s repeated public claims that there is “no limit” on aid entering Gaza, convoy after convoy has been turned back. Since the full siege began on 2 March 2025, most major NGOs have not managed to get a single truckload through, and vast stocks of humanitarian goods have been left stranded in Jordan, Egypt – and in some cases, just kilometres from Gaza.
Its threat to deregister humanitarian NGOs, owing to the new bureaucratic hurdles it has introduced – as well as its longstanding restrictions – is another inhumane move to deny urgently needed supplies to a desperate population.
CARE International UK’s head of policy and advocacy Dorothy Sang said that:
CARE has been given an unlawful ultimatum by the Israeli government demanding it must submit sensitive information or face being shut down. We have been present in Gaza for decades, and have always operated under well-established UN coordination and distribution mechanisms. The new registration process is not an administrative measure but a deliberate obstacle that violates international humanitarian principles. Every aid clearance rejection, every delayed approval, every blocked truck is a death sentence for Palestinians. Without taking concrete action, the UK government continues to risk complicity in this conflict. It is indefensible British-made weapons that could be used in the siege are still being licensed. The prime minister must lead with action, suspend all arms exports, and demand the Israeli government opens all land crossings and offers safe and unrestricted passage across Gaza.
Hospitals left without the basics, doctors and aid workers work while hungry
The blockade is biting hardest in Gaza’s hospitals, now operating with dwindling stocks of basic medicines, sterile dressings, and surgical kits. Aid groups say children, disabled people, and older residents are dying not just from injuries but from preventable illnesses and hunger. Even aid workers are now reporting to work hungry.
While UN famine monitors have confirmed that the worst case scenario of famine is already under way, the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza has recorded 106 child deaths from starvation and malnutrition, out of a total of 235 – as of August 13 – with the death rate significantly increasing over the past two weeks. 1,859 Palestinians have been killed, and over 13,594 injured – mainly by Israeli forces – while seeking food, since late May.
Aid agencies argue that Israel’s INGO rules are part of a bigger strategy to control who delivers aid and how, replacing independent humanitarian channels with those aligned with political and military objectives. Central to this is the so called GHF aid distribution system, promoted as a humanitarian solution but condemned by the UN as “death traps”, and called “bloodbaths” by Human Rights Watch.
This system funnels desperate civilians towards dangerous distribution points, creating yet another site of mass killings while cutting out long trusted Palestinian and international aid providers, such as UNRWA, who has been operating-with great efficiency and within international law in the occupied Palestinian territory since 1950.
A worsening picture for Gaza
Since Hamas took control of Gaza in 2007, Israel has maintained a land, sea, and air blockade, justified on security grounds but repeatedly described by UN experts and humanitarian bodies as a form of collective punishment prohibited under international law.
For years, entry of goods – from food to medical supplies, was regulated through numerous permits, inspections, and approvals. During previous military campaigns by the occupation, delays sometimes stretched for months, but long established NGOs could usually negotiate clearances through UN channels. What makes 2025 different is that these INGO rules institutionalise a higher level of political control, tying humanitarian access to compliance with demands for sensitive data.
Without opening the borders and allowing the unhindered, and unlimited passage of all aid, no volume of airdrops, alternative schemes, or partial openings can prevent further deaths, and these registration restrictions definitely will not help.
A statement calling for an end of Israel’s weaponised aid impunity
As a response to the ongoing catastrophic situation in Gaza, and these new measures being imposed by the occupation, more than 100 international NGOs, including CARE and Oxfam, have signed a statement calling 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.
Featured image via the Canary
By Charlie Jaay
This post was originally published on Canary.