Aid organisations launch legal challenge over Israel ban

They can also be deregistered for things like 'delegitimising Israel'; expressing support for action against Israel for violations of international law; or public support for a boycott of Israel within the past seven years (by staff, a partner, board member, or founder).

Groups affected include Medical Aid for Palestinians, which has been backed by leading Scottish politicians including John Swinney and Stephen Flynn, Oxfam, Christian Aid, and Refugees International.

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On 30 December 2025, the affected organisations were formally notified that their Israeli registrations would expire the following day and that they would have 60 days to wind down activities in Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.

The territories are illegally occupied by Israel, which controls movement in and out for people and goods.

Under the Fourth Geneva Convention, an occupying power must facilitate relief for civilians under its control.

The notification letter stated that the decision could only be overturned if organisations completed the full registration process, with which they cannot legally or ethically comply.

The INGOs say the demand to transfer personal data raises acute security and legal risks, exposing national staff to potential retaliation and undermining established data protection and confidentiality safeguards.

The petition seeks an urgent interim injunction to suspend expiry of registrations and prevent further enforcement pending judicial review. The petitioning organisations contend that these administrative measures constitute an effort to curtail established humanitarian operations in a manner incompatible with the obligations of an occupying power under international humanitarian law. 

Yotam Ben-Hillel, an Israeli immigration lawyer who is bringing the petition, said: "For many years humanitarian organisations operating in Palestine and Israel were registered with the ministry of social affairs.

Hamam Al-Farani, center left, sits next to his sister, in white, being comforted (Image: AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

"The process was fairly straightforward, once an organisation was registered we could start operating but in practice it hasn't registered new organisations for almost 10 years.

"When the war started it used that as an excuse to stop issuing recommendation letters for workers to enter the West Bank and Gaza, since October 2023 international workers cannot enter Israel as workers and those workers who used to be here had to leave because their visas expired.

"In 2024 AIDA submitted a High Court petition demanding a solution, then in December 2024 the Israeli government came up with this completely new system under the Ministry of Diaspora Affairs.

"The new system is here for them to have more control of international NGOs, for political purposes.

"For example, under these new rules Israel can refuse to register an organisation if, in its view, what the organisation reports about what is happening in the West Bank and Gaza delegitimises Israel. This is a very broad standard.

"Another requirement is to provide a full list of employees in the West Bank and Gaza, including their contact details. Giving details of Palestinian employees to the military authorities can make it appear as if the organisation is collaborating with the Israeli military which can put employees at risk.

"Humanitarian organisations are supposed to be impartial under international law, and this requirement makes it much harder to maintain this position.

"Sharing this information with the Israeli military could expose the organisations to criminal action in their home countries for violating GDPR.

"Israel has never really explained what will be done with the sensitive information and how it could be protected."

Anne-Claire Yaeesh of Handicap International/Humanity & Inclusion said the new rules meant experts who would have come into Gaza to deal with unexploded ordnance were not permitted to enter, while materials for the 21,000 children who have been handicapped by the war are barred.

Amjad Shawwa of the Palestinian NGO Network, speaking from Gaza City, said: "There has been a critical decrease in aid supplies getting into Gaza, 90% of the population is totally dependent on humanitarian aid.

"Israel controls more than 60% of the Gaza Strip through the so-called 'Yellow Line' while they continue air strikes and shooting people near to this so-called line. We are losing new lives every day.

"One and a half million people have lost their homes, most are staying in tents in very cold weather. We've called for caravans to be allowed in, not a single one has been allowed in since the beginning of the war. Hundreds of thousands are blocked on the border.

"Every day we witness new cases of malnutrition among children and pregnant women, if this kind of crossing control by the Israelis continues we will go back to the famine, which was declared last August, in just a few weeks without the quantities of aid supplies needed.

"Israel intends to replace humanitarian organisations with other organisations, you remember the GHF (made up of private security contractors) distribution which became kind of death traps for the Palestinians.

"People are totally dependent on humanitarian aid, we NGOs are working together to save the population of Gaza and I can't imagine the situation without UNWRA and the other NGOs - (you'd have) field hospitals without professional doctors.

"But for me, the worst thing would be the lack of civil observers who became witnesses to Israel's actions. Israel intends to silence these people by kicking them out of the Gaza strip.

"In the West Bank Israel is confiscating more land, destroying more homes, and in the north we've witnessed total destruction of refugee camps - worse will come if we don't all stand together to face such unprecedented actions which could be copied and pasted in other conflicts.

"We have to stop it, or all humanity will suffer."