UN and Aid Groups Warn Israel's Roadblocks Risk Undermining Humanitarian Operations in Gaza
JAKARTA - The United Nations (UN) and aid groups warned on Wednesday that humanitarian operations in the Palestinian territories, particularly Gaza, risked collapsing if Israel did not lift restrictions that included registration processes that were "vague, arbitrary, and highly politicized".
Dozens of international aid groups face deregistration by December 31, meaning they must shut down operations within 60 days, the U.N. and more than 200 local and international aid groups said in a joint statement.
"The revocation of the registration of international NGOs (INGO) in Gaza will have a negative impact on access to essential and basic services," the statement said, citing Al Arabiya from Reuters (18/12).
"INGO manages or supports the majority of field hospitals, primary health care centers, emergency response shelters, water and sanitation services, nutrition stabilization centers for children with acute malnutrition, and important mine action activities," he said.
Although some international aid groups have been registered under the system introduced in March, "the ongoing re-registration process and other arbitrary obstacles to humanitarian operations have led to millions of dollars in critical aid - including food, medical supplies, hygiene materials, and shelter assistance - being stuck outside Gaza and unable to reach people in need," the statement said.
Separately, Israel's mission to the United Nations in New York did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the statement.
It is known that under the first phase of US President Donald Trump's Gaza plan, a fragile ceasefire in the two-year war between Israel and Palestinian militants Hamas began on October 10.
Hamas freed the hostages, Israel freed the Palestinians it was holding, and more aid began flowing into the territory where a global hunger watchdog said in August that famine had struck.
However, Hamas said the aid trucks entering Gaza were fewer than those agreed upon. Aid agencies say the aid received is far less than needed, and Israel is blocking many essential items from entering.
Israel denied this and said it was complying with its obligations under the truce.
"The UN will not be able to compensate for the loss due to the collapse of international NGO operations if they are revoked, and the humanitarian response cannot be replaced by alternative actors operating outside the established humanitarian principles," the UN and aid groups said.
The statement stressed, "humanitarian access is not optional, conditional, or political," adding "life-saving assistance must be allowed to reach the Palestinian people without further delay."