Israel’s new permit system stalls Gaza relief
Israel is accused of obstructing humanitarian relief to Gaza through a new registration system imposed on international aid organizations, the Financial Times reported on Friday, citing several humanitarian groups.
According to the report, the system has held up tens of millions of dollars’ worth of assistance outside Gaza, as convoys and shipments remain stalled pending Israeli clearance.
Forty international aid groups indicated that Israel rejected 99 requests to bring humanitarian supplies into Gaza during the first 12 days of the ceasefire. Around three-quarters of those rejections were reportedly justified as “not authorized” to operate in the territory.
Under the new measure, Israel has instructed all humanitarian agencies to re-register before the end of the year or risk losing their licenses to operate — a regulation that has disrupted the work of major organizations including Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders), Oxfam, and the Norwegian Refugee Council.
The Norwegian Refugee Council also confirmed that each time it seeks approval to deliver aid, Israeli authorities respond that its registration “is under review,” effectively halting relief operations.
Israel has not publicly commented on the report or on the rationale behind the new registration requirements.
The crisis follows more than two years of open war in which 68,527 Palestinians — most of them women and children — were killed.
Earlier, aid agencies reported that the Strip is facing a deepening humanitarian catastrophe: around 1.9 million people — nearly nine out of ten residents — have been displaced, while the UN Food Security classification estimates that over half a million are now in “catastrophic” conditions of food shortage and famine.
It also left much of Gaza’s infrastructure destroyed while pushing its health and food systems to the brink of collapse.
