DaysofPal – Seventeen international humanitarian organizations have filed a petition with the Supreme Court of Israel seeking permission to continue operating in the Gaza Strip and other parts of the occupied Palestinian territory. The appeal follows an Israeli government decision to halt the activities of dozens of aid agencies next month.
Israeli authorities have announced plans to bar 37 organizations from working in Gaza, the occupied West Bank, and occupied East Jerusalem starting March 1. Aid groups warn that the measure could have severe consequences for Palestinians who depend on their services.
In a joint statement released Tuesday, the organizations said they are requesting an urgent suspension of the decision and an interim injunction until the court conducts a full review of the order.
Oxfam International said the forced shutdown of aid operations could begin within days, describing the potential impact as immediate and far-reaching.
The group warned that families in Gaza remain heavily reliant on outside assistance due to continued restrictions on the entry of supplies and ongoing strikes in densely populated areas. In the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, aid agencies report growing needs linked to military incursions, demolitions, displacement, settlement expansion, and settler attacks.
Among the organizations affected are Doctors Without Borders (MSF), the Norwegian Refugee Council, and CARE International.
Registration Dispute and Staff Data Demands
On December 30, 2025, Israeli authorities informed the groups that their registrations had expired and gave them 60 days to renew. The renewal process requires submission of lists containing personal details of Palestinian staff members.
Aid organizations argue that providing such information could place employees at risk of retaliation, undermine humanitarian neutrality, and breach European data protection standards.
The court petition states that compelling humanitarian groups to share staff data effectively turns them into an intelligence-gathering arm of one side in the conflict, contradicting the core principle of neutrality.
According to the United Nations, 133 NGO workers have been killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza since October 7, 2023, including 15 staff members from Doctors Without Borders.
The organizations warn that halting their work would trigger a humanitarian collapse and cause irreparable harm to hundreds of thousands of people. More than two million residents of Gaza rely heavily on aid for food, water, medical care, and shelter following more than two years of war that devastated much of the territory.
The petitioners say they have proposed alternative oversight mechanisms, including donor-audited vetting systems, instead of handing over detailed staff lists to Israeli authorities.
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