Merciless: ‘Israel’ Cracks down on Aid Groups in Gaza amid Severe Winter Crisis

By Staff, Agencies

“Israel” has announced it will bar dozens of humanitarian organizations from operating in Gaza within 36 hours, citing their alleged failure to comply with newly imposed requirements to submit personal data on Palestinian and international staff working in the territory.

According to “Israeli” officials, the measures affect several high-profile aid agencies, including ActionAid, the International Rescue Committee, and Médecins Sans Frontières [MSF].

The decision, announced Tuesday by “Israel’s” Ministry of Diaspora Affairs, follows the introduction of stricter registration procedures requiring organizations to provide detailed staff information. “Israeli” authorities claim the rules are necessary to address security and transparency concerns.

The announcement comes as Gaza faces worsening humanitarian conditions, with severe storms in recent days destroying thousands of tents and deepening an already critical crisis across the enclave.

Foreign ministers from 10 countries issued a joint statement on Tuesday expressing alarm over what they described as a “renewed deterioration of the humanitarian situation” in Gaza, warning that conditions had reached a “catastrophic” level.

“As winter draws in, civilians in Gaza are facing appalling conditions with heavy rainfall and temperatures dropping,” the ministers of Britain, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Iceland, Japan, Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland said in a joint statement released by the UK’s Foreign Office on Tuesday.

The ministers highlighted severe gaps in shelter, healthcare, and sanitation across Gaza. The statement added that “1.3 million people still require urgent shelter support. More than half of health facilities are only partially functional and face shortages of essential medical equipment and supplies. The total collapse of sanitation infrastructure has left 740,000 people vulnerable to toxic flooding."

The foreign ministers urged “Israel” to allow the UN and partner organizations to continue operations and called for an end to what they described as “unreasonable [‘Israeli’] restrictions on imports considered to have a dual use.”

“Israel” has blocked hundreds of items from entering Gaza, claiming that they could be repurposed by Hamas for tunnel reconstruction or military use. Aid agencies say the restrictions include essential medical and shelter supplies.

The ministers also called for additional border crossings to be opened to boost aid flows, pointing to continued closures or severe restrictions on humanitarian corridors, including Rafah, the main crossing linked to Egypt.

 “Bureaucratic customs processes and extensive screenings are causing delays, while commercial cargo is being allowed in more freely,” the statement said.

“The target of 4,200 trucks per week, including an allocation of 250 UN trucks per day, should be a floor not a ceiling. These targets should be lifted so we can be sure the vital supplies are getting in at the vast scale needed,” it added.

Under a 20-point agreement that enabled a fragile ceasefire in October, “Israel” claimed to allow “full aid” to be “immediately sent into Gaza."

However, “Israel” continues to bombard Gaza, killing more Palestinians, while the enclave remains under a total blockade, leaving Palestinians to perish in freezing conditions, with children among the most vulnerable.

NGOs have previously warned that the rules conflict with European data protection laws and could put staff at risk.

In its Tuesday statement, the ministry claimed an investigation found MSF had employed two individuals allegedly linked to Palestinian armed groups.

MSF rejected the claim, saying it “would never knowingly employ people engaging in military activity."

The Ministry did not clarify whether MSF’s operating license had been cancelled.

“In terms of registration, MSF continues to engage and discuss with ‘Israeli’ authorities,” the NGO said. “We have not yet received a decision on reregistration.”