Israel Bans 37 NGOs in Gaza Amid Allegations of Terror Links and Oversight Failures
Israel began enforcing a ban on 37 international NGOs operating in Gaza on Jan. 1, after they failed to meet new security and transparency requirements. The affected organizations, including Doctors Without Borders (MSF), Oxfam, ActionAid, and the Norwegian Refugee Council, must cease activities by March 1, having missed a deadline to disclose full staff details, funding sources, and operations.
Israeli officials, including Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli, argued the rules prevent Hamas from exploiting aid frameworks, noting the groups represent less than 1% of total aid inflows.
Give the gift of hope
We practice what we preach:
accurate, fearless journalism. But we can't do it alone.
- On the ground in Gaza, Syria, Israel, Egypt, Pakistan, and more
- Our program trained more than 100 journalists
- Calling out fake news and reporting real facts
- On the ground in Gaza, Syria, Israel, Egypt, Pakistan, and more
- Our program trained more than 100 journalists
- Calling out fake news and reporting real facts
Join us.
Support The Media Line. Save democracy.
Humanitarian groups and the UN warned the move will worsen Gaza’s crisis, amid winter floods, sewage issues, and displacement camps where aid already falls short. MSF highlighted its role in 20% of hospital beds and one-third of births, calling the ban a “weaponization of bureaucracy” that risks lives. UN rights chief Volker Türk labeled it “outrageous,” while dozens of NGOs decried the new policy as harmful to humanitarian principles.
NGO Monitor, citing figures from the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), the Israel Defense Force’s aid coordinator, argued that MSF runs only five of about 220 clinics and medical access points and has brought in 95 aid trucks, compared with roughly 4,200 trucks entering Gaza each week.
It also noted that Israel is concerned about alleged links between some MSF staff and armed groups such as Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Hamas, and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and accuses MSF of showing political bias by failing to condemn the October 7 attacks while continuing to repeat claims that were later challenged or corrected by other sources.
COGAT insists that over 20 compliant groups will continue deliveries, while critics, including Refugees International, claim the ban and related restrictions violate the Trump-brokered October ceasefire by restricting impartial aid.
