The occupation prevents non-governmental organizations from operating in Gaza in 2026

The Israeli occupation announced that it will prevent non-governmental organizations from operating in the Gaza Strip in 2026, if they do not submit a list of their Palestinian employees by Wednesday.

This comes as foreign ministers of 10 countries, including Britain, Canada, and France, expressed their deep concern over the deterioration of humanitarian conditions in the Gaza Strip and their return to catastrophic levels, demanding that the Israeli government lift the restrictions imposed on the entry of humanitarian aid into the sector.

This was stated in a joint statement published by the foreign ministers of Britain, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Iceland, Japan, Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland on Tuesday regarding the humanitarian situation in Gaza.

And in a statement from what is called the Israeli Ministry of "Diaspora and Combating Antisemitism" yesterday Tuesday, it stated that organizations that "refused to submit a list of their Palestinian employees in order to exclude any link to terrorism", as it put it, "will have their licenses revoked starting from the first of January/January next".

It said that the concerned organizations "will have to stop all their activities by the first of March/March next 2026".

The ministry explained that only 15% of non-governmental organizations are covered by this measure, adding that actions undermining what it called "Israel's legitimacy", legal pursuits against Israeli army soldiers, denial of the Holocaust, as well as denial of the events of October 7/October last (2023), are considered reasons for revoking the license", according to its claim.

International non-governmental organizations had expressed, in mid-December/December last, their fear of not being able to continue working in the Gaza Strip, which was destroyed by the ongoing genocide war for two years, due to these new measures.

Since October/October last, a fragile truce has been in effect in the Gaza Strip, which faces a humanitarian crisis threatening its population of 2.2 million people, amid ongoing Israeli violations.

The ceasefire agreement stipulates the entry of 600 aid trucks daily into Gaza, but the actual number ranges between 100 and 300 trucks, according to non-governmental organizations and the United Nations.

Amid the Israeli blockade and the complex humanitarian situation, foreign ministers of ten countries expressed their deep concern over the renewed deterioration of the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, describing the scene as catastrophic, amid harsh winter conditions and a severe shortage of shelter and healthcare.

Foreign ministers of European countries, in addition to Canada and Japan, confirmed in a joint statement that about one million three hundred thousand people in the sector are in urgent need of support, calling on Israel to open the crossings and increase the flow of aid, and enable international organizations to work towards humanitarian response.

This bleak humanitarian scene comes amid a state of anticipation and waiting for the future of the ceasefire agreement and its promised second phase.

At a time when the occupation army continues to bombard civilians, leaving 414 Palestinian martyrs since the ceasefire agreement came into effect on October 10/October last.

The occupation also demolishes residential buildings in areas it controls east of Gaza City, and in Rafah city south of the sector.

Palestinians are forced to live in cracked and dilapidated buildings due to the lack of options amid Israel's destruction of most buildings in the sector.