Middle East

Msf and dozens of NGOs banned from Gaza as of 1 January

The revocation of the licence, made official by the Ministry of Diaspora Affairs, is motivated by Tel Aviv's failure to comply with new requirements regarding transparency on personnel, funding and operating methods. And it comes as ten countries are sounding the alarm over a situation in the Strip described as "catastrophic"

by Foreign News

30 December 2025

Sarah Saada, quindicenne palestinese sfollata, fuggita da Beit Lahia, nel nord della Striscia di Gaza, durante i bombardamenti israeliani, disegna mentre si trova accanto alla sua tenda che domina un campo per sfollati a Gaza City, il 30 dicembre 2025. A partire da ottobre, un fragile cessate il fuoco ha finora fermato due anni di guerra tra Israele e Hamas nella Striscia di Gaza, nonostante entrambe le parti si siano scambiate accuse di violazione della tregua. (Foto di Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)

2' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

2' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

The best known, which has long been under the Israeli government's lens, is Médecins Sans Frontières. But in the list of the 37 humanitarian organisations that from tomorrow, 1 January, will no longer be able to operate in Gaza there are other NGOs of weight and world renown: Oxfam, ActionAid, Caritas Internationalis.

The revocation of the licence, made official by the Ministry of Diaspora Affairs, is motivated by Tel Aviv's failure to comply with new requirements regarding transparency on personnel, funding and operating methods. And it comes as ten countries are sounding the alarm over a situation in the Strip described as "catastrophic".

"The main failure," reads the Israeli ministry statement, "was the refusal to provide complete and verifiable information on its employees," considering that "security checks revealed that employees of some organisations were involved in terrorist activities...in particular, Médecins Sans Frontières.

But that information, as Silvia Mancini, head of humanitarian affairs for Msf, explained to Sole 24 a few days ago, 'is extremely sensitive' and 'risks creating security problems, as we do not know how it will be used'.

Cogat, the Israeli defence body that oversees humanitarian aid, claims that the impact on Gaza will be minimal, as the organisations on the list contribute less than 1% of the total aid to the Strip.

This assessment, however, does not take into account, for example, the medical support provided by Msf, which in the past year alone has provided basic care and treated thousands of inhabitants. Various international organisations have therefore criticised the new Israeli regulations, calling them arbitrary and warning that they could jeopardise the safety of humanitarian personnel who, according to the new directive, must be evacuated by 1 March.

In a coincidence that sounds dramatic, the decision to revoke the licence comes as the foreign ministers of ten countries issued an alarming joint statement. "As winter approaches, Gaza's civilians are facing appalling conditions, with heavy rains and falling temperatures," warned the ministers of Great Britain, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Iceland, Japan, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland. "1.3 million people are still in need of urgent shelter assistance. More than half of the health facilities are only partially functional and face shortages of essential medical equipment and supplies. The total collapse of the sanitation infrastructure has left 740,000 people vulnerable to toxic flooding'.

Meanwhile, in the aftermath of the meeting between Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu at Mar-a-Lago, Florida, more details emerge about the less idyllic part of the face-to-face, the disagreements over the occupied West Bank. According to the Axios website, the president and his top advisors asked the Israeli premier to avoid provocative actions, and to 'restore calm'. Also yesterday, however, a dozen settlers entered the Palestinian community of Ras Ein al-Auja, north of Jericho in the West Bank, sparking clashes. Five Palestinians were reportedly arrested, while another was injured.