On 30 December 2025, Israel announced its intention to prevent 37 international humanitarian and aid organisations, (including amongst others, ActionAid, International Rescue Committee, Médecins Sans Frontières and Norwegian Refugee Council) from operating in the occupied Palestinian territory (OPT). The announcement follows Israel’s introduction, in March 2025, of additional registration requirements, whose aim is to consolidate its genocidal conduct in Gaza –– of which denial of access to humanitarian aid remains a central element ­­–– to further fragment and isolate the Palestinian people from international support.

Responding to the introduction of the requirements, in May 2025 a coalition of 55 international organisations warned that: ‘Based on vague, broad, politicised, and open-ended criteria, these rules appear designed to assert control over independent humanitarian, development and peacebuilding operations, silence advocacy grounded in international humanitarian and human rights law, and further entrench Israeli control and de facto annexation of the occupied Palestinian territory.’

The International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) 2024 Palestine Advisory Opinion observed that ‘a key element of the right to self-determination is the right of a people freely to determine its political status and to pursue its economic, social and cultural development’ and that ‘the dependence of the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and especially of the Gaza Strip, on Israel for the provision of basic goods and services impairs the enjoyment of fundamental human rights, in particular the right to self-determination’ (para 241). Israel’s subjugation of the Palestinian people is enabled through the implementation of an apartheid system of domination, denying Palestinians the capacity to determine their own social, economic, and cultural development.

In Gaza, Israel’s genocidal conduct has included the denial of humanitarian aid, the destruction of agricultural land, and the targeting of health care workers and humanitarian staff. Israel’s presence in the OPT remains unlawful, as was determined by the ICJ in 2024, and must be brought to an end. Al-Haq reiterates that entry into Palestine, and the presence in Palestine of external actors, including private individuals, consular representatives, UN agencies, and humanitarian organisations, is contingent on the consent of the Palestinian people and their representatives, and is in no way an Israeli prerogative.

In 2025 the ICJ, in its UNRWA Advisory Opinion, affirmed that Israel is obliged to lift its restrictions on UNRWA’s operations and agree to, and facilitate, relief provided by the Agency. The ICJ recognised the sustained connection between UNRWA’s mandate and the realisation of human rights for the Palestinian people, including their right to self-determination. The Court further asserted that under international humanitarian law, Israel is obliged to agree to and facilitate impartial relief schemes.

This Advisory Opinion followed the issuance during 2024, by the ICJ of three provisional measures Orders in the case of South Africa v Israel, measures which oblige Israel under the Convention Against Genocide to take all necessary and effective measures, without delay and in full cooperation with the United Nations, to ensure the unhindered provision at scale of food, water, electricity, fuel, shelter, clothing, hygiene and sanitation, and medical supplies and care; increase the capacity and number of land crossings and maintain them open for as long as necessary, and specifically keep the Rafah crossing open for the provision of humanitarian aid; and ensure that its military does not impede the delivery of such aid.

Al-Haq further stresses the need to implement the arrest warrants issued against Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and former Minister of Defence Yoav Gallant, by the International Criminal Court (ICC), including on charges of having perpetrated the war crime of “starvation as a method of warfare, and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts”. Israel’s additional registration requirements for international non-governmental organisations aim to force out the vital international humanitarian presence from the OPT. Not only will the consequence be the consolidation of Israeli control over the supply of essential food and supplies to Palestinians struggling to survive amidst a genocide, but the requirements further diminish ‘the visibility of international law violations and seriously impedes accountability.’

The international community, and individual States, have not only failed to hold Israel accountable and enforce international law – including the binding provisional measures indicated by the Court – they have protected Israel’s impunity, and continued to provide it with diplomatic cover as well as the financial and material means necessary to carry out its genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. The requirements make Israeli permission to operate in Palestine contingent on the silence of international aid organisations, and in essence demands their submission to Israel’s illegal and racist policies and practices.

Condemnations of this latest escalation, such as joint statements criticising Israel’s restrictions on humanitarian aid, and the EU’s observation that ‘the NGO registration law cannot be implemented in its current form’, while necessary, remain meaningless without proactive enforcement action, including a comprehensive arms embargo and effective economic, cultural, and diplomatic sanctions.

It is imperative that all States, including home States of the affected 37 organisations –– Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom –– take meaningful concrete actions to counter Israel’s unconstrained settler colonisation of Palestinian territory, revoke the status of settler charities and related illegal entities, revoke all benefits and State entitlements to unlawfully present settlers with dual nationalities, and implement legislation to prohibit the sale of settlement goods and services.

Al-Haq reminds that Israel’s admission to UN membership through UNGA Resolution 273 was made conditional on Israel honouring its obligations under Resolution 181 with respect to the status of Palestine and Jerusalem, and Resolution 194 on the return and repatriation of Palestinian refugees, two resolutions which Israel has consistently refused to fulfil since 1948, including through these latest attacks on institutional humanitarian support in Palestine, and therefore, is in violation of its terms of membership in the UN.

Al-Haq calls upon all States and international organisations to take concrete actions to:

• Implement comprehensive diplomatic and economic sanctions on Israel, a full two-way arms embargo, and a ban on trade in goods and services that sustain the settler colonial apartheid and occupation;

• Revoke the status of settler charities and related illegal entities, revoke all benefits and State entitlements to unlawfully present settlers with dual nationalities, and implement legislation to prohibit the sale of settlement goods and services domestically;

• Comply with obligations under the Genocide Convention and enforce the International Court of Justice (ICJ) orders for provisional measures to prevent irreparable harm to Palestinians in Gaza;

• Fully implement the recommendations of the International Court of Justice 2024 Palestine Advisory Opinion and 2025 UNRWA Advisory Opinion;

• Cooperate in enforcing International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrants for Israeli officials and activate universal jurisdiction mechanisms in national courts to prosecute perpetrators of international crimes;

• Publicly condemn as unlawful Israeli and US sanctions against Palestinian human rights organizations and ensure continued financial and political support for their work;

• Ensure the safety and uninterrupted passage of humanitarian aid convoys and flotillas to Gaza and provide all necessary support to UNRWA.

• Address the root causes underpinning the ongoing Israeli military aggression, including Israel’s apartheid regime since 1948, as a tool of its settler colonialism, and the denial of the right to self-determination of the Palestinian people, including their right to return;

• Rescind the UN General Assembly membership rights of apartheid Israel, for its flagrant breaches of Resolution 181 with respect to the status of Palestine and Jerusalem, and Resolution 194 on the return and repatriation of Palestinian refugees, two resolutions which Israel has consistently refused to fulfil since 1948.