JERUSALEM: Aid workers in the Palestinian territories told AFP they are concerned that rules recently floated by Israel could make already difficult humanitarian work “almost impossible.”
Since the war in Gaza broke out with Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, aid organizations have been contending with a “slippery slope” when it comes to Israeli authorities’ tolerance for their work, said one senior NGO staffer.
But after COGAT, the Israeli body responsible for overseeing Palestinian affairs, presented a plan last month for reorganizing aid distribution, that slope has gotten “much steeper,” with some NGOs deeming the proposed changes unacceptable, she added.
COGAT did not respond to AFP’s request for comment.
The staffer and others interviewed requested anonymity for fear of repercussions for their operations in the occupied West Bank and the besieged Gaza Strip, where responding to the acute humanitarian crisis brought on by the war had already been a Herculean undertaking.
“The ability to deliver aid and adhere to humanitarian principles in Gaza, the access restrictions we’re facing in the West Bank... All of these things, when you put them together, you just feel like you’re watching the apocalypse,” she said.
“We basically have a fire extinguisher trying to put out a nuclear bomb.”
According to NGOs, COGAT presented a plan at the end of February that aims to reinforce Israeli oversight of aid by establishing logistics centers linked to the army and by enforcing tighter control over the entire humanitarian supply chain.
“Logistically, it will be almost impossible,” said one member of a medical NGO, wondering whether such organizations would be forced to declare individual recipients of various medications.
COGAT’s stated objective, according to the NGOs, is to combat looting and the misappropriation of aid by militants.
But the NGOs say they believe looting is currently marginal, and that the best way of avoiding it is to step up deliveries.
Israel, meanwhile, cut off aid deliveries to Gaza entirely early this month over an impasse with Hamas on how to proceed with a fragile ceasefire.
“The thinking (of COGAT) was that Hamas would rebuild itself thanks to humanitarian aid,” said a representative of a European NGO, “but that’s false, and humanitarian aid won’t bring them rockets or missiles.”
Israel “just wants more control over this territory,” he added.
The NGOs said COGAT did not specify when the new rules would take effect.
A separate government directive that came into force in March established a new, stricter framework for registering NGOs working with Palestinians.
It requires organizations to share extensive information on their staff, and gives the government the right to reject employees it deems to be linked to the “delegitimization” of Israel.
NGOs operating in the Palestinian territories already face numerous difficulties, and even outright danger, particularly in Gaza.
At least 387 employees have been killed in Gaza since the start of the war, according to a recent UN estimate.
Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN’s Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA, which was recently banned from operating in Israel, said the humanitarian community is wondering “how far can we go while remaining principled,” and at what point that would no longer be the case under the new rules.
Amjad Shawa, director of the Palestinian NGO network PNGO, said organizations “need to all work against” the new restrictions, adding that he believed the rules’ actual goal was to “prevent accountability and any kind of criticism on Israel toward what they committed” in Gaza and the West Bank.
“Lives are at stake,” he added.
The head of an international NGO agreed that a “red line has been crossed and I think we should oppose it.”
But one humanitarian in the medical sector said a principled stand would only draw flak from the Israelis, and “given the needs (of the Palestinians), principled positions don’t hold water.”
NGOs fear new rules will make helping Palestinians ‘almost impossible’
https://arab.news/53zk4
NGOs fear new rules will make helping Palestinians ‘almost impossible’
- Since the war in Gaza broke out, aid organizations have been contending with a ‘slippery slope’ when it comes to Israeli authorities’ tolerance for their work
- COGAT, the Israeli body responsible for overseeing Palestinian affairs, presented a plan last month for reorganizing aid distribution
Palestinian PM: Gaza reconstruction advancing amid US talks, Saudi support
- In an interview with Arab News, Mohammed Mustafa said “Palestinian objective is clear,’ but we need to ‘get Gaza right first’
- Speaking at Davos panel, PM calls Kingdom a key stakeholder in the Palestinian cause
DAVOS: Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Mustafa told Arab News that progress is underway in Gaza’s reconstruction talks, with clear dialogue between the Palestinian Authority, US President Donald Trump and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff.
“I think the Palestinian objective is pretty clear, it has been for a long time, which is to establish their own independent state, (achieve) international resolution,” Mustafa said, noting that “we need to get Gaza right first.”
Despite a ceasefire taking hold earlier in 2025, Gaza remains under what the international community describes as an Israeli-enforced blockade. Basic supplies such as food and medicine are still subject to Tel Aviv’s scrutiny, which controls all access in and out of the Strip.
On Sunday, Trump announced that his Gaza plan had entered its second phase, in which Hamas would release all remaining hostages, Israel would free more Palestinian prisoners and fully withdraw its forces — a step international actors say should pave the way from ceasefire to lasting peace.
The formation of a technocratic National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, or NCAG, composed of Palestinian figures, marks the first concrete step toward implementing the plan and restoring Palestinian ownership of the next phase.
A precise timeline for reconstruction remains unclear, with analysts warning that major works hinge on Hamas disarmament — a politically fraught task assigned to the Gaza Peace Board.
“It’s going to take more than two years to fix Gaza, but at least we want to make sure that things are in the right direction,” continued Mustafa, adding that the West Bank remains part of the broader conversation.
He stressed the urgency of reunifying Gaza’s institutions with the West Bank to achieve the PA’s political goal of independence.
“Our priority is what’s happening to our people in Gaza today. Despite four months passing (after) the ceasefire, people are still dying. Yes, there is a ceasefire but it’s not fully observed due to Israeli military actions,” he said, stressing that “shelter is the biggest challenge” at the moment.
Mustafa revealed he held “very active and useful” talks with US officials on Tuesday, saying both sides “share the same goals” on the matter.
Later in his panel, Mustafa said a Palestinian reform plan is in the works with the help of partners including Saudi Arabia.
In a session at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Mustafa said Saudi Arabia and other partners such as Egypt and Jordan were not just contributors but key stakeholders in the Palestinian cause.
“Saudi Arabia along with France have been working with us on the two state solution and integrating it,” he said.
“We want to work with the board of peace to ensure that they do their part of things to prepare for reconstruction efforts,” he added.
Mustafa said although some view the Oslo treaty as outdated, it still holds its place as an internationally recognized framework.
“According to the Oslo agreement, Israel should have withdrawn from most of the West Bank and Gaza. We want to see Israel respecting this agreement,” he said.
“The Israelis did not respect the economic part of the treaty. We are praying for a heavy price, not only in Gaza and people being killed every day. But also actions on the ground in the West Bank. We said clearly, we want to achieve our goals by peaceful means,” he said.
“Israel today holds $4 billion of our government’s money. They control the borders and collect the tax fines. For the past four months they have sent zero dollars. Our ability to govern has been impacted due to this,” Mustafa said.
In a sideline interview with Arab News, Palestinian Ambassador to Switzerland Ibrahim Mohammad Khraishi said that he met an Egyptian minister who expressed hope that the Rafah crossing could soon reopen on both sides.
“We need the understanding from all,” Khraishi said. “Yes, we have this administrative committee (as part of the Gaza Peace Board), but without the Palestinian Authority, they cannot deliver. Because we have everything. We have the institutions, we have the government,” Khraisi said.
Commenting on recent West Bank developments, including Israeli bulldozers razing the UNRWA compound in occupied East Jerusalem on Tuesday, he warned: “This is the scenario for the Israelis. For them, there is nothing to talk about. It’s total crash and destruction. Now, what they are doing in West Bank is on the way.”
