By Micah Jonah
February 25, 2026
17 international aid organizations have petitioned Israel’s Supreme Court to prevent the government from halting their life-saving operations in the Gaza Strip, the occupied West Bank, and East Jerusalem.
Israel plans to ban 37 aid groups from operating in these areas – starting March 1, a move aid agencies warn could have “devastating consequences” for Palestinians dependent on external assistance.
Oxfam International said the forced closures could begin as early as Saturday, affecting not only individual organizations but the wider humanitarian system. In Gaza, families continue to rely on aid amid restricted entry and renewed strikes, while in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, military incursions, demolitions, displacement, and settler violence are driving rising humanitarian needs.
The court petition comes after Israeli authorities notified aid groups in December 2025 that their work registrations had expired and demanded personal details of Palestinian staff. Agencies including Doctors Without Borders (MSF), Oxfam, the Norwegian Refugee Council, and CARE have warned that compliance could expose their staff to retaliation, undermine humanitarian neutrality, and violate European data protection laws.
Since the start of Israel’s war on Gaza on October 7, 2023, the UN reports that 133 NGO workers have been killed in Israeli attacks, including 15 MSF staff.
The petitioners have proposed alternatives to providing staff information, such as donor-audited vetting systems, emphasizing that halting their activities would cause “humanitarian collapse and irreparable harm” for hundreds of thousands of people in need.
The majority of Gaza’s more than 2 million residents rely on aid groups for food, water, healthcare, shelter, and other essentials after more than two years of conflict have devastated the territory.
