As France prepares to airdrop another 36 tonnes of aid into Gaza by next week, more than 100 NGOs have accused Israel of "weaponising" relief supplies. They say new registration rules have left goods stuck in Jordan and Egypt while Palestinians face starvation.
A joint letter – signed by organisations including Médecins Sans Frontières and Oxfam – urges Israel to drop rules they say are stopping the entry of medicine, food and water.
"Israeli authorities have rejected requests from dozens of NGOs to bring in life-saving goods, citing that these organisations are ‘not authorised to deliver aid’," the groups said in a statement.
The appeal comes as Israel prepares to take control of Gaza City – a move France and the United Nations have warned could have devastating humanitarian consequences.
The registration requirements, introduced in March, allow Israel to reject a group’s request to work in Gaza if it "promotes delegitimisation campaigns" against the state of Israel.
Macron warns Israel that Gaza occupation plan risks ‘war without end’
The NGOs say some groups are being pressured to halt operations if they do not give detailed information about their Palestinian staff. Israel says the information is needed for security checks.
"Despite claims by Israeli authorities that there is no limit on humanitarian aid entering Gaza, most major international NGOs have been unable to deliver a single truck of life-saving supplies since 2 March," the groups said.
Israel questions 'true intentions'
France, which has contributed to an effort organised by Jordan and other international partners to send 1,000 tonnes of aid to Gaza, has seen some of its supplies “blocked in Egypt and Jordan, because of the Israeli blockade,” a diplomatic source told the AFP news agency on Wednesday.
The source said that France was planning on airdropping another 36 tonnes of supplies, including medicine, medical equipment and first aid material, before 20 August.
The Israeli military unit in charge of security and civilian policy in the occupied West Bank and Gaza – Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (Cogat) – said Israel allows and facilitates the entry of aid into Gaza, and that the registration requirements are "designed to ensure that aid reaches the population directly and not Hamas".
Hunger, disease and no escape: Gaza aid worker’s account of life under siege
It questioned the motivation of the organisations criticising the registration process, saying: "The refusal of some international organisations to provide the information and cooperate with the registration process raises serious concerns about their true intentions and the possibility of ties between the organisation or its employees and Hamas."
According to Cogat, 20 organisations have completed the registration process and have been bringing around 300 lorries of supplies a day into Gaza.
The UN says 600 lorries per day are needed, while humanitarian groups say their inability to deliver aid has "left hospitals without basic supplies [and] children, people with disabilities and older people dying from hunger and preventable illnesses".
