UN chief calls on Israel to lift work ban

Controversial approach

UN chief calls on Israel to lift work ban

37 aid organizations lose their licenses in Israel. UN chief Guterres warns of the consequences in the Palestinian territories occupied by Israel.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres is calling on Israel to reverse the license revocation of dozens of international aid organizations. Israel’s measure will further worsen the Palestinians’ humanitarian crisis, Guterres warned, according to his spokesman Stéphane Dujarric. Israel’s measure affects 37 organizations, including Doctors Without Borders and Oxfam. They reject the registration required by Israel from January 1, 2026 as illegal.

The organizations must now permanently stop their activities by March. “We call on the Israeli government to immediately end the de-registration procedures and lift the measures that hinder humanitarian assistance,” said a joint statement from 53 international non-governmental organizations distributed by Oxfam. “We call on donor countries to use all available means to achieve the suspension and withdrawal of these measures,” it said.

Israel’s measure also affects activities in the Gaza Strip, which was largely destroyed by the war between Israel and the Islamist Palestinian organization Hamas. The Israeli government’s threat to deny registration to the organizations is “a cynical and calculated attempt to prevent the organizations from providing assistance in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. Israel is thereby violating its obligations under international humanitarian law,” Médecins Sans Frontières said in a statement.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry previously said the registration was intended to “prevent the involvement of terrorist elements and protect the integrity of humanitarian work.” Critics, however, see the government requirements as unclear provisions that enable arbitrary decisions.

International organizations should therefore also disclose confidential information about Palestinian employees and dismiss employees upon request without giving reasons. The involvement of a party to the conflict in personnel verification is viewed as a violation of humanitarian principles such as neutrality and independence. Offers to check by neutral bodies have so far been rejected.