UN agencies and NGOs call for immediate lifting of impediments to humanitarian access and NGO operations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory

17 December 2025

Statement by the Humanitarian Country Team of the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT)*

The United Nations and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) urge the international community to take immediate and concrete actions to press the Israeli authorities to lift all impediments, including the new INGO registration process, that continue to undermine humanitarian operations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory or risk the collapse of the humanitarian response, particularly in the Gaza Strip.

INGOs, working in close partnership with the UN and Palestinian organizations, are central to humanitarian operations in the OPT, collectively delivering approximately US$1 billion in assistance each year.

In March, the Israeli authorities introduced a new INGO registration system that fundamentally jeopardizes the continuation of humanitarian operations throughout the OPT. The system relies on vague, arbitrary, and highly politicized criteria and imposes requirements that humanitarian organizations cannot meet without violating international legal obligations or compromising core humanitarian principles. Under the current framework, dozens of INGOs face deregistration by 31 December 2025, followed by the forced closure of operations within 60 days.

While some INGOs have been registered under the new system, these INGOs represent only a fraction of the response in Gaza and are nowhere near the number required just to meet immediate and basic needs. The ongoing re-registration process and other arbitrary hindrances to humanitarian operations have left millions of dollars’ worth of essential supplies – including food, medical items, hygiene materials, and shelter assistance – stuck outside of Gaza and unable to reach people in need.

Pressing ahead with this policy will have far-reaching consequences on the future of the OPT, in addition to threatening a fragile ceasefire and putting Palestinian lives at imminent risk, particularly during winter. The work of INGOs cannot be replaced, especially after Israeli restrictions imposed on UNRWA have already pushed the humanitarian response inside Gaza to a breaking point. The UN will not be able to compensate for the collapse of INGOs’ operations if they are de-registered, and the humanitarian response cannot be replaced by alternative actors operating outside established humanitarian principles.

The deregistration of INGOs in Gaza will have a catastrophic impact on access to essential and basic services. INGOs run or support the majority of field hospitals, primary healthcare centers, emergency shelter responses, water and sanitation services, nutrition stabilization centers for children with acute malnutrition, and critical mine action activities. For example, all five stabilization centers for children with severe acute malnutrition are supported by INGOs, representing 100 per cent of the in-patient capacity to treat children with life-threatening malnutrition in Gaza. If INGOs are forced to stop operations, 1 in 3 health facilities in Gaza will close.

Since the announcement of this new process, the UN and INGOs have consistently engaged in good faith with the Israeli authorities to highlight aspects of the registration process with which INGOs cannot comply and to look for actionable and acceptable solutions that would ensure the continuity of life-saving operations. The humanitarian impact in Gaza if INGOs can no longer operate has been directly communicated to the Israeli authorities on multiple occasions as part of these ongoing efforts to find a solution before it is too late.

However, there has been no adjustment from the Israeli authorities on these issues. Humanitarian access continues to be obstructed, including through the imminent dismantlement of INGO operations.

UN agencies and NGOs reiterate that humanitarian access is not optional, conditional or political. It is a legal obligation under international humanitarian law, particularly in Gaza where Israel has failed to ensure that the population is adequately supplied. Israeli authorities must allow and facilitate rapid, unimpeded passage of humanitarian relief. They must immediately reverse policies that obstruct humanitarian operations and ensure that humanitarian organizations are able to operate without compromising humanitarian principles. Lifesaving assistance must be allowed to reach Palestinians without further delay.

* The Humanitarian Country Team (HCT) is a strategic decision-making forum led by the Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory. It brings together heads of UN entities and over 200 NGOs – both international and local – all working on humanitarian affairs in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip under internationally agreed humanitarian principles.

Annex

Humanitarian Gaps and Sectoral Impacts of INGO Deregistration in Gaza

This annex outlines the sectoral consequences that would result from the deregistration or forced suspension of international non-governmental organizations (INGOs) operating in Gaza. Across all sectors, INGOs constitute a critical share of operational capacity, service delivery, supply pipelines and technical expertise. No UN agency or national organization has the immediate capacity to absorb this workload.

Health

INGOs currently underpin the majority of Gaza’s health system.

• Of the 80 active health partners, 44 are INGOs, meaning deregistration would remove more than half of the Health Cluster’s operational presence.
• INGOs:
  • Run or support 60% of field hospitals
  • Support 42% of primary healthcare centers
  • Support 23% of medical points
• INGO-run field hospitals serve as central referral hubs for 60–70% of emergency cases.
• On a monthly basis, INGOs deliver:
  • 293,000 primary health consultations
  • Tens of thousands of emergency, maternal, non-communicable disease, and mental health consultations
  • 18,000 surgeries
  • Support for 1,000 births and 10,000 hospital admissions

If INGOs were deregistered:

• One in three health facilities would immediately close
• 345 hospital beds would be lost overnight
• Services for more than 20,000 patients requiring specialized care each month would cease
• Disease surveillance, referral and coordination systems would collapse

Medical supply chains:

• INGOs are consignors of approximately 12% of all approved medical supplies entering Gaza (around 410 tons), representing 30% of the total value of medicines and equipment awaiting entry.
• These include trauma and surgical kits, insulin, cancer medications, oxygen therapy equipment, vaccines, assistive devices and rehabilitation equipment.
• Emergency Medical Teams (EMTs):
• Of the 35 EMTs currently deployed, 90% operate through INGOs, providing specialized medical staff critical to addressing severe workforce losses due to displacement and casualties.

Food Security

Food security operations rely heavily on INGOs for continuity and scale.

• In 2024, NGOs delivered US$ 221 million of the $420 million in food assistance provided in Gaza.
• Of 195 cooked-meal provision points, 132 (68%) depend directly on INGOs for staffing, supplies or operations:
  • 66% in Deir al Balah
  • 59% in Gaza city
  • 71% in Khan Younis

Shelter and Non-Food Items (NFIs)

Shelter and NFI activities would face a high risk of collapse without INGOs.

• Since early 2025, INGOs have:
  • Implemented 74% of all shelter and NFI activities
  • Delivered 83% of NFI items
• The majority of shelter and NFI supplies currently in the pipeline are held by international organizations, including:
  • 600,000 shelter items
  • 3.2 million NFIs

Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH)

INGOs are central to WASH service delivery and outbreak prevention.

• INGOs constitute 62% of WASH partners and deliver 42% of all WASH services in Gaza.
• INGO-supported activities include:
  • Safe water provision and decentralized water production
  • Emergency latrine installation
  • Hygiene item distribution
  • Primary solid waste collection
  • Acute watery diarrhoea outbreak control

INGOs’absence would rapidly exacerbate waterborne diseases, worsen sanitation conditions in overcrowded sites, and remove critical technical and operational support currently provided to national NGOs.

Nutrition

The nutrition response is heavily dependent on INGOs.

• INGOs account for 65% of Nutrition Cluster partners and operate the majority of service delivery points.
• INGOs:
  • Support more than half of all blanket supplementary feeding sites
  • Operate over one-third of outpatient treatment sites
  • Support all inpatient treatment facilities
• All five stabilization centers for children with severe acute malnutrition in Gaza are supported by INGOs, representing 100% of Gaza’s capacity to treat life-threatening malnutrition.
• Between January and mid-November 2025:
  • INGOs screened 60% of all children reached by nutrition actors
  • Treated 51% of all malnutrition cases
  • Maintained nutrition surveillance systems for children and women

Removal of INGOs would cause immediate and severe gaps in detection, treatment and monitoring of malnutrition.

Mine Action and Debris Removal

INGOs are foundational to mine action and debris removal, which are prerequisites for safe humanitarian access and recovery.

• More than half of all mine action funding flows through INGOs.
• UNMAS relies on INGOs to conduct explosive hazard assessments once conditions permit.
• INGOs are already engaged in neighborhood-based debris removal, improving access to affected populations

Without INGOs:

• Explosive ordnance risk education, assessment and clearance capacity would drop by 75–100%
• Overall debris removal capacity would decline by approximately 20%