The foreign ministers of 26 countries and the European Union told Israel to reconsider its regulations, which went into effect this month, giving the Jewish state broad discretion to deny registration requests from non-governmental organizations that operate in Gaza.
Israel can refuse the requests if it has political or security concerns, including about groups that boycott the Jewish state, deny its status as a Jewish and democratic country or deny the Holocaust or the Oct. 7 terror attacks.
To register, which is a prerequisite for sending aid into the Strip, nonprofits must also provide Israel with detailed information about their staff under the new regulations. The Knesset is weighing imposing an 80% tax on nonprofits that receive funding from foreign governments and criminalizing cooperation with the International Criminal Court.
“Due to restrictive new registration requirements, essential international NGOs may be forced to leave the occupied Palestinian territories imminently, which would worsen the humanitarian situation still further,” the 26 countries stated.
“We call on the government of Israel to provide authorization for all international NGO aid shipments and to unblock essential humanitarian actors from operating,” they added.
The countries and the EU thanked the United States, Qatar and Egypt “for their efforts in pushing for a ceasefire and pursuing peace.”
“We need a ceasefire that can end the war, for hostages to be released and aid to enter Gaza by land unhindered,” they said.
The top diplomats of Australia, Belgium, Canada, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom signed the statement.
