Israeli occupation authorities have informed 37 international humanitarian organizations that they will be prohibited from operating in the Palestinian territories beginning January 1, 2026.

The decision, communicated on Wednesday, targets a wide range of international aid agencies involved in emergency medical services, food assistance, child protection, and support for refugees and people with disabilities. Humanitarian actors have warned that the ban will severely disrupt life-saving operations and place the lives of civilians—particularly children, the sick, and the wounded—at grave risk.

Affected organizations described the new Israeli regulations as arbitrary, opaque, and politically motivated, arguing that they effectively criminalize humanitarian work and expose aid workers to increased danger. Several organizations warned that preventing them from operating would constitute a serious violation of international humanitarian law, which obligates occupying powers to facilitate humanitarian assistance to civilian populations under occupation.

Among the organizations notified of the impending ban are major international relief groups, including Action Against Hunger, ActionAid, CARE, Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) branches in Belgium, France, the Netherlands, and Spain, Mercy Corps, the Norwegian Refugee Council, Oxfam Novib, and the International Rescue Committee, along with others.

Humanitarian officials stressed that these organizations play a critical role in sustaining Gaza’s already collapsing healthcare system, providing food to hundreds of thousands facing hunger, and offering protection services to children and vulnerable communities amid ongoing Israeli military assaults and blockade conditions.

Aid groups have called on the international community, the United Nations, and donor governments to urgently intervene and pressure Israeli authorities to reverse the decision. They warned that shutting down international humanitarian operations would deepen the already catastrophic humanitarian crisis in Gaza and further isolate the Palestinian population from essential life-saving support.

The move comes amid growing international criticism of Israel’s restrictions on humanitarian access to Gaza, where prolonged military operations, siege conditions, and repeated displacement have pushed the territory to the brink of famine and systemic collapse of civilian infrastructure. (ILKHA)