Israel bans 37 international aid organizations from operating in Palestinian territories from January 2026

Illustration of a truck carrying humanitarian aid from Egypt entering Gaza through Rafah. (Twitter/@PalestineRCS)

JAKARTA - More than 30 international aid organizations will be banned from operating in the Palestinian territories by Israel starting January 2026.

The Israeli occupation authorities on Wednesday informed 37 international aid organizations that they would be banned from operating in the Palestinian territories starting January 1, 2026, citing non-compliance with new regulations governing international organizations in the Gaza Strip.

The affected organizations work in the fields of emergency medical services, food aid, child protection, and support for refugees and people with disabilities, reported the Palestinian news agency WAFA as quoted (31/12).

Furthermore, it is said that this ban will have a major impact on relief efforts and endanger the lives of civilians, especially children and patients, and violate international humanitarian law.

The organizations described the new rules as arbitrary and potentially harmful to their staff.

Among the organizations affected are Action Against Hunger, ActionAid, CARE, Médecins Sans Frontières (Belgium, France, Netherlands, Spain), Mercy Corps, Norwegian Refugee Council, Oxfam Novib to the International Rescue Committee.

Israel's authorities on Tuesday warned they would suspend the permits of a number of aid organizations operating in the Gaza Strip, Palestine, starting in January for failing to provide details on their Palestinian staff, accusing two Doctors Without Borders (MSF) workers of having ties to militant groups.

The Israeli Ministry of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism said in a statement that the move was part of Israel's decision to "strengthen and update" regulations governing the activities of international NGOs in the Palestinian territories.

"Humanitarian organizations that fail to meet security and transparency requirements will have their licenses revoked," the ministry said, citing Al Arabiya from AFP.

The ministry further said that organizations that "fail to cooperate and refuse to submit a list of their Palestinian employees to rule out the possibility of links to terrorism" have received official notices, their permits will be revoked starting January 1.

The organizations concerned - whose names were not disclosed - were ordered to stop all activities on March 1.

The ministry said the groups were given 10 months to provide the requested information but "still failed to meet the requirements."

Earlier, the ministry told AFP earlier this month on November 25, about 100 registration requests had been submitted and "only 14 requests for organizations were rejected."

"The rest have been approved or are in the review process," the ministry said.