JERUSALEM: Israel has said 37 aid organizations will be banned from operating in Gaza from Thursday unless they comply with guidelines requiring detailed information on Palestinian staff, drawing criticism from the United Nations and the European Union.
Several NGOs have told AFP the new rules will have a major impact on food and medical shipments to Gaza, at a time when humanitarian organizations say the amount of aid getting in is inadequate to the devastated territory’s needs.
Israel’s deadline for NGOs to provide the details expires at midnight on Wednesday.
“They refuse to provide lists of their Palestinian employees because they know, just as we know, that some of them are involved in terrorism or linked to Hamas,” spokesman for the Ministry of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism, Gilad Zwick told AFP, naming 37 NGOs that had so far failed to meet the new requirements.
“I highly doubt that what they haven’t done for 10 months, they will suddenly do in less than 12 hours,” Zwick said. “We certainly won’t accept any cooperation that is just for show, simply to get an extension.”
