Israel is set to suspend the operating licenses of Doctors Without Borders, Oxfam and dozens of other humanitarian aid groups in Gaza and the West Bank over alleged ties to Hamas, preventing international aid workers from entering Gaza and carrying out critical, lifesaving operations. Citing the groups' supposed support for the "delegitimization of Israel," the move is "arbitrary and highly politicized," explains Shaina Low, communications adviser for the Norwegian Refugee Council, one of the impacted groups. "This is just one more step to push out principled humanitarian actors, particularly those that speak out on behalf of the people who we're there to serve, call for accountability for rights violations and violations of international law."
Switzerland warns of catastrophic humanitarian conditions in Gaza
The Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs has said the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip has reached “catastrophic levels” and warned that harsh winter conditions are compounding the crisis.
Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis called on Israeli authorities to ensure access to humanitarian aid to Gaza, including by opening crossings to enable large-scale delivery of assistance.
The comments come a day after a similar statement was issued jointly by the foreign ministers of the United Kingdom, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Iceland, Japan, Norway and Sweden.
UN rights chief says Israeli aid suspensions will make situation in Gaza ‘even worse’
UN rights chief Volker Turk calls Israel’s threat to suspend aid groups from operating in Gaza from tomorrow “outrageous”.
“Israel’s suspension of numerous aid agencies from Gaza is outrageous,” Turk said in a statement. “Such arbitrary suspensions make an already intolerable situation even worse for the people of Gaza,” he warned.
Israel announced that unless 37 aid organisations comply with new guidelines, which require detailed information on Palestinian staff, they will be banned from operating in Gaza.
“This is the latest in a pattern of unlawful restrictions on humanitarian access,” Turk said, pointing to Israel’s ban on the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, and “attacks on Israeli and Palestinian NGOs amid broader access issues faced by the UN and other humanitarians”.
“I urge all States, in particular those with influence, to take urgent steps and insist that Israel immediately allows aid to get into Gaza unhindered,” he said.
Belgian FM calls on Israel to lift restrictions on humanitarian aid access to Gaza
Belgian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot called on Israel to remove the restrictions it placed on humanitarian access in the Palestinian territories, emphasising that humanitarian access is “neither optional, nor conditional or political”.
“The ICJ [International Court of Justice] asserted Israel’s unconditional obligation under international humanitarian law to ensure the unhindered provision of humanitarian relief to the civilian population,” Prevot wrote on X, referring to the ICJ’s advisory opinion that Israel has an unconditional obligation under international humanitarian law to ensure the unhindered delivery of aid to civilians.
“Professional humanitarian actors like UNRWA and INGOs funded by Belgium comply with the highest standards of transparency, impartiality and independence. I reiterate my call to Israel to cooperate with all humanitarian actors in good faith, based on clear and non-politicised criteria, to maximise the delivery of aid in Palestine,” he said, calling on Israel to remove all “humanitarian access constraints”.
🇮🇱🇵🇸 (EN/FR/NL) Humanitarian access is neither optional, nor conditional or political. After impeding the work of the United Nations, the Government of Israel’s restrictive new requirements now deregister international NGO’s.
The ICJ asserted Israel’s unconditional obligation…
— Maxime PREVOT (@prevotmaxime) December 31, 2025
