By Anjali Sharma
UNITED NATIONS – UN humanitarian agencies on Wednesday said that they are working in the Occupied Palestinian Territory have warned that life-saving aid operations risk collapse unless Israel immediately lifts new barriers that are blocking access and forcing international charities to shut down.
Humanitarian Country Team in a sharply worded statement issued called on the international community to press Israeli authorities to reverse measures that are choking humanitarian work, particularly in the Gaza Strip.
The concern is a new registration system for international non-governmental organizations, introduced earlier this year.
They said the process is vague, politicized and impossible to meet without breaching humanitarian principles.
Under the current rules, dozens of organizations face deregistration by the end of December, followed by the forced closure of their operations within weeks.
“These organisations are not optional extras,” the statement said. “If they are pushed out, the humanitarian response will not survive.”
International NGOs, working with UN agencies and Palestinian partners, deliver around one billion dollars’ worth of assistance each year across the territory.
Millions of dollars’ worth of food, medicines, hygiene supplies and shelter materials are now stuck outside Gaza, unable to reach families in need.
The warning came as winter deepens and amid fears that further restrictions could destabilize a fragile ceasefire.
Aid agencies stressed that the impact of losing international NGOs could not be absorbed by the UN or local groups, especially after Israeli limits on Palestine refugee relief agency, UNRWA, have already stretched the response to breaking point.
According to the Humanitarian Country Team, international NGOs support or run much of Gaza’s basic infrastructure for survival.
They underpin field hospitals and primary health clinics, provide clean water and sanitation, distribute
If they are forced to leave, one in three health facilities in Gaza would close almost immediately, cutting off care for tens of thousands of patients.
Aid leaders said they had raised these concerns with Israeli authorities and sought workable solutions to keep operations running.
“There has been no adjustment,” the statement said.
It warned that the dismantling of NGO operations now appears imminent.
Humanitarian access, the agencies insisted, is a legal obligation, not a political choice.
“Lifesaving assistance must be allowed to reach Palestinians without further delay,” the statement concluded.
The team warned that without swift action, the consequences for civilians in Gaza would be catastrophic.
