London, 5th January 2026 – Israel has revoked the licences of 37 international NGOs (INGOs) working in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Licences were suspended on the 1st January and Israel has ordered that all operations must cease within 60 days.
ActionAid, International Rescue Committee, Médecins Sans Frontières and Norwegian Refugee Council are among the aid agencies which will have their licences suspended.
The move, announced on the 30th of December 2025, is an unprecedented step that will catastrophically worsen the already-dire humanitarian situation in Gaza, where Israel has intentionally and systematically restricted aid.
INGOs are integral to delivering life-saving humanitarian assistance at scale in the region, which is so desperately needed due to Israel’s genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. A removal of such organisations would close health facilities, halt food distributions, collapse shelter pipelines, and cut off lifesaving care in both Gaza and the West Bank.
The banning of essential and lifesaving INGOs operating in Palestine is a deliberate Israeli policy move with clearly anticipated consequences. Despite the October ‘ceasefire’, more than 400 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed by Israeli attacks, with INGOs currently delivering more than half of food assistance, 60% of field hospital support, and full treatment for severe acute malnutrition, among other critical services. The banning of INGO operations in the region is a calculated decision by Israel to further curtail aid delivery and undermine principled humanitarian action.
Israel’s intentional and deliberate blockade of aid into Gaza is an extension of its policy to utilise starvation as a weapon of war, an internationally recognised war crime, that contributes to wilfully causing suffering to a civilian population. Such crimes contravene the Rome Statute, the International Criminal Court Act 2001, and the Geneva Convention.
ICJP calls for the ban on INGOs to be lifted without delay and for full, unhindered humanitarian access into Gaza, in accordance with Israel’s obligations under the October ceasefire agreements.
Órlaith Roe, ICJP’s Public Affairs and Communications Officer, said:
“Israel’s decision to ban 37 international NGOs is a calculated move to dismantle impartial humanitarian operations and deepen the devastation in Gaza, where conditions have been systematically ravaged after more than two years of genocide.
Aid agencies operate under strict frameworks of independence and neutrality and must not be obstructed from delivering assistance where needs are greatest. Israel’s sustained vilification of humanitarian organisations is actively undermining essential relief efforts in Gaza. The banning of UNRWA, followed by the effective prohibition of international NGOs, marks a dangerous escalation that will have catastrophic consequences if left unchallenged. These are deliberate, calculated actions that deepen civilian suffering and dismantle the humanitarian lifelines on which Gaza’s population depends.
ENDS
Notes for Editors:
- The International Centre of Justice for Palestinians is an independent organisation of lawyers, politicians and academics who support the rights of Palestinians and aim to protect their rights through the law.
- For more information, to arrange an interview with a spokesperson, please contact the ICJP news desk at [email protected].
Photo Credit: Naser Jafari/Wikimedia Commons
