GENEVA - Israel's suspension of dozens of associations in the occupied Palestinian territory is a flagrant violation of the law, UN experts* said today.
"By blocking aid, Israel is worsening life-threatening conditions, and heightens potential criminal responsibility for its leaders," the experts said.
"Banning life-saving organisations from operating in Gaza marks a new phase in a policy that renders life unbearable for a population already devastated by genocide," the experts said. "This strategy will create conditions that force Palestinians into chronic deprivation, threatening their very survival as a group and further violating the Genocide Convention - it must be stopped."
Announced as a national security measure on 30 December 2025, the new regulation bans 37 international NGOs from operating in Gaza and the West Bank. It grants Israeli authorities broad discretionary power to deny status to INGOs based on an organisation's previous support for international legal proceedings against Israeli citizens, engagement with boycotts, or failure to characterise Israel as a Jewish and democratic state.
"The ban is not an isolated act, but part of a systematic assault on humanitarian operations in the occupied Palestinian territory and another step in the deliberate dismantling of Gaza's lifeline," the experts said. "In Gaza, genocide survivors are battling winter, severe food insecurity, malnutrition and the collapse of the healthcare and education systems in the context of severe environmental harm impact caused by Israeli aggression. "
"This collective punishment of survivors comes amid sustained attacks on humanitarian personnel and premises and obstruction of aid convoys," they said.
"Since October 2023, Israeli forces have killed over 500 humanitarian workers and at least 1,500 health workers and intimidated, harassed and conducted smear campaigns targeting humanitarians. UNRWA has been the most visible target, but it is far from the only one," the experts said.
"These measures must be seen in legal and factual context: as a strategy to create conditions in Gaza that force Palestinians into chronic deprivation, threatening their survival as a group and further violating the Genocide Convention."
As of 31 December 2025, nearly USD 50 million in life-saving aid remained blocked amid repeated ceasefire violations, including the expansion of Israeli forces into over half of Gaza, continued airstrikes and shelling that has killed over 400 Palestinians in under three months.
"We have entered a new phase in which Israel and its supporters have reached the genocide without witness stage," the experts said. "With journalists being killed, denied access, or forced out, humanitarian organisations paralysed or expelled, and a misleading global sense of 'ceasefire', atrocities are being committed without public scrutiny."
In early December, UN agencies and NGOs were only able to deliver 14,600 tents for 85,000 people, leaving 1.3 million Palestinians without adequate winter shelter. Several people, including six children have already died from hypothermia, drowning or cold-related injuries.
"There are no words left to describe what Gaza has become," the experts said.
"Israeli occupying forces have no legal right to block aid or impose coercive requirements on humanitarian organisations," the experts said. "The occupation is and remains unlawful under international law. The only way to remedy this legal defect is to decolonise Palestine and end Israel's control over Palestinian lives and land."
They urged States, particularly those with influence, to take immediate action to ensure unconditional entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza. "It is unacceptable for a State accused of international crimes and maintaining an unlawful occupation to block access to life-saving aid in occupied territory."
The experts warned that other state leaders could incur responsibility if they fail to take all steps in their power to prevent further acts of genocide.
"While ending Israel's unlawful occupation and apartheid practices remains the only way to ensure sustained peace in the region, States must work to remove all obstacles to humanitarian action and guarantee safe, sustained and unrestrained access through UN-supervised land and sea corridors," they said.
