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Aid truck. Palestinians in Gaza are facing further hunger and starvation during Ramadan after Israel blocks all humanitarian aid into the territory.
  • 8 min read
  • Published: 14th August 2025

Joint Statement on Gaza: Israel threatens to ban major aid organisations as starvation deepens

Over 100 organisations call for an end to Israel’s weaponisation of aid.

 

Despite claims by Israeli authorities that there is no limit on humanitarian aid entering Gaza, most major international NGOs - including Oxfam - have been unable to deliver a single truck of lifesaving supplies since 2 March.

Instead of clearing the growing backlog of goods, Israeli authorities have rejected requests from dozens of NGOs to bring in lifesaving goods, citing that these organisations are “not authorised to deliver aid.” In July alone, over 60 requests were denied under this justification.

This obstruction has left millions of dollars’ worth of food, medicine, water, and shelter items stranded in warehouses across Jordan and Egypt, while Palestinians are being starved.

Many of the NGOs now told they are not “authorised” to deliver aid have worked in Gaza for decades, are trusted by communities and experienced in delivering aid safely. Their exclusion has left hospitals without basic supplies, children, people with disabilities, and older people dying from hunger and preventable illnesses, and aid workers themselves going to work hungry.

The obstruction is tied to new INGO registration rules introduced in March. Under these new rules, registration can be denied on the basis of vague and politicised criteria, such as alleged “delegitimisation” of the state of Israel. INGOs warned the process was designed to control independent organisations, silence advocacy, and censor humanitarian reporting. This new bureaucratic obstruction is inconsistent with established international law as it entrenches Israel’s control and annexation of the occupied Palestinian territory.

Unless INGOs submit to the full registration requirements, including the mandatory submission of details of private donors, complete Palestinian staff lists and other sensitive information about personnel for so-called “security” vetting to Israeli authorities, many could be forced to halt operations in Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and remove all international staff within 60 days. Some organizations have even been issued a seven-day ultimatum to provide Palestinian staff lists. 

NGOs have made clear that sharing such data is unlawful (including under relevant data protection laws), unsafe, and incompatible with humanitarian principles. In the deadliest context for aid workers worldwide, where 98 percent of those humanitarians killed were Palestinian, NGOs have no guarantees that handing over such information would not put staff at further risk, or be used to advance the government of Israel's stated military and political aims.

Today, INGOs’ fears have proven true: the registration system is now being used to further block aid and deny food and medicine in the midst of the worst-case scenario of famine.

Oxfam has over $2.5 million worth of goods that have been rejected from entering Gaza by Israel, especially WASH and hygiene items as well as food. This registration process signals to INGOs that their ability to operate may come at the cost of their independence and ability to speak out.
— Bushra Khalidi, Oxfam Policy Lead

These restrictions are part of a broader strategy that includes the so-called “GHF” scheme – a militarised distribution mechanism promoted as a humanitarian solution. In reality, it is a deadly tool of control, with at least 859 Palestinians killed around “GHF” sites since it began operating.

Both the “GHF” scheme and the INGO registration process aim to block impartial aid, exclude Palestinian actors, and replace trusted humanitarian organisations with mechanisms that serve political and military objectives. 

They come as the government of Israel escalates its military offensive and deepens its occupation in Gaza, making clear these measures are part of a broader strategy to entrench control and erase Palestinian presence.

We call on all states and donors to: 

● Press Israel to end the weaponisation of aid, including through bureaucratic obstruction, such as the INGO registration procedures.

● Insist that INGOs are not forced to share sensitive personal information, in violation of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), or compromise staff safety or independence as a condition for delivering aid. 

● Demand the immediate and unconditional opening of all land crossings and conditions for the delivery of lifesaving humanitarian aid.

Kate Brayden, Media Officer - Oxfam Ireland
kate.brayden@oxfam.org
+353 877 49 7447

Clare Cronin, Head of Comms - Oxfam Ireland
clare.cronin@oxfam.org
+353 87 195 2551

● The occupied Palestinian territory is the deadliest setting for aid workers worldwide, with Palestinian staff accounting for 98% of aid worker fatalities: 509 out of 517 killings that took place between 2023-2025, according to the Aid Worker Security Database. 

● On 6 May, 55 organisations warned that Israel’s new INGO registration measures are a grave threat to humanitarian operations and international law. 

● On 1 July, 200+ organisations called for immediate action to end the deadly Israeli distribution scheme, including the so-called “GHF” in Gaza, revert to the existing UN-led coordination mechanisms, and lift the Israeli government’s blockade on aid and commercial supplies. 

● On 23 July, 100+ organisations warned that, as mass starvation spreads across Gaza, our colleagues and those we serve are wasting away. 

● On 29 July, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) wrote that the worst-case scenario of famine is currently playing out in the Gaza Strip. 

● Israel has consistently denied restricting the amount of aid allowed into Gaza, including throughout the period of July 2025, when most of the denials discussed in this statement were issued. 

● On 31 July, OHCHR wrote that since 27 May, at least 1,373 Palestinians have been killed while seeking food; 859 in the vicinity of the “GHF” sites and 514 along the routes of food convoys. Most of these killings were committed by the Israeli forces. 

● On 4 August, a Palestinian nurse in Gaza was killed when an airdrop struck him. ● On 5 August, it was reported that Israeli authorities are planning for the full occupation of the Gaza Strip. 

● On 6 August, UN agencies and NGOs warned that without immediate action most international NGO partners could be de-registered by Israel in coming weeks. ● On 6 August, the Dutch Data Protection Authority (DPA) concluded that Israel’s information requests under the INGO registration process risk violating the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The DPA advised that INGOs should not comply with these requests, and that the only solution is for Israel to amend its requirements and for the relevant ministries to issue a formal protest. 

● On 7 August, MSF released a report stating food distributions in Gaza run by the so-called "GHF" are sites of “orchestrated killing and dehumanization” that must be shut down." 

● On 10 August, Save the Children reported the deaths of 100 children due to starvation in Gaza since October 2023. 

● On 12 August, a group of UN Special Rapporteurs on human rights published a letter to the Israeli government, stating deep concern that the INGO registration measures “weaken the ability of INGOs to operate independently and impartially and to carry out their humanitarian and human rights work without interference or fear of reprisal” and that “that the obligation to report on INGO personnel, in the context of occupation, armed conflict and serious violations of international law, could raise serious protection and reprisal concerns.”

1. A New Policy 

2. ACT Alliance 

3. ActionAid Denmark 

4. ActionAid International 

5. Action Against Hunger (ACF) 

6. Action For Humanity 

7. All We Can 

8. Alliance Sud 

9. American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) 

10. Americares 

11. Anera 

12. Asamblea de Cooperación por la Paz 

13. Bystanders No More 

14. Campaign Against Arms Trade 

15. Canadian Foodgrains Bank 

16. CARE 

17. Caritas Internationalis 

18. Caritas Jerusalem 

19. Caritas Middle East and North Africa 

20. Caritas Switzerland 

21. Center for Jewish Nonviolence 

22. Charity & Security Network 

23. ChildFund Alliance 

24. Children Not Numbers 

25. Christian Aid 

26. Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP) 

27. CISS - Cooperazione Internazionale Sud Sud 

28. Committee to Protect Journalists 

29. Comundo 

30. Cooperation Canada 

31. COORDINADORA VALENCIANA ONGD 

32. DanChurchAid 

33. Danish Refugee Council (DRC) 

34. Department of Service to the Palestinian Refugees 

35. Diakonia 

36. Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe 

37. EDUCO 

38. Embrace the Middle East 

39. Emergency - Life Support for Civilian War Victims Ong Ets 

40. Entreculturas 

41. Finn Church Aid (FCA) 

42. Forum Ziviler Friedensdienst e.V. (Pro Peace)

43. Frieda - the Feminist Peace Organization 

44. Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL) 

45. Fund for Global Human Rights 

46. Glia 

47. HEKS/EPER (Swiss Church Aid) 

48. HelpAge International 

49. Humanitarian Coalition 

50. Humanity Auxilium 

51. Humanity & Inclusion – Handicap International 

52. Humanity First UK 

53. INARA 

54. Insecurity Insight 

55. International Development and Relief Foundation (IDRF) 

56. INTERSOS 

57. Islamic Relief 

58. Jahalin Solidarity 

59. Japan International Volunteer Center (JVC) 

60. Jüdische Stimme für Demokratie und Gerechtigkeit in Israel/Palästina JVJP Switzerland 61. KinderUSA 

62. Kvinna till Kvinna Foundation 

63. La Coordinadora de Organizaciones para el Desarrollo (The Spanish Development NGO Platform) 

64. Médecins du Monde International Network 

65. Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) 

66. MedGlobal 

67. Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) 

68. medico international 

69. medico international schweiz 

70. Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) 

71. Middle East Children’s Alliance 

72. MPower Change Action Fund 

73. Muslim Aid 

74. Nonviolent Peaceforce 

75. NORWAC – Norwegian Aid Committee 

76. Norwegian Church Aid 

77. Norwegian People's Aid (NPA) 

78. Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) 

79. Oxfam

80. Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund (PCRF) 

81. PANZMA - Palestinian Australian New Zealand Medical Association 82. PARCIC 

83. Pax Christi International 

84. PAX for Peace 

85. Peace Watch Switzerland

86. People in Need (PIN) 

87. Plan International 

88. Polish Humanitarian Action (PAH) 

89. Portuguese Platform of Development NGOs 

90. Premiere Urgence Internationale (PUI) 

91. Project HOPE 

92. Relief International 

93. Right to Play 

94. Sabeel-Kairos UK 

95. Saferworld 

96. Save the Children International 

97. Secours Islamique France (SIF) 

98. Solidar Suisse 

99. Solidarités International 

100. SWISSAID 

101. Terre des Hommes Italy 

102. Terre des Hommes Lausanne 

103. The Eastern Mediterranean Public Health Network (EMPHNET) 104. The United Church of Canada 

105. United Against Inhumanity (UAI) 

106. Vento di Terra 

107. War Child Alliance 

108. Weltfriedensdienst e.V.