Dr James Smith, an emergency physician who has volunteered in Gaza, has pushed back against Israel’s claim that the newly suspended aid groups manage a small number of programmes as “misinformation”.
“A situation that is already horrific will be made even more horrific. The changes will be immediate, and they will be ruthless,” he said.
The move is “an extension of Israel’s longstanding strategy of titrating humanitarian access and humanitarian services as a core pillar of the occupation and of the genocide”, Smith said. “Israel wants to exert totalising control over all aspects of Palestinian life, not only in Gaza but throughout occupied Palestine.”
Which organisations are being suspended?
Israel says 37 organisations have failed to meet its new rules for aid groups working in the Gaza Strip, and are suspended starting January 1.
The most prominent organisations – which provide essential medical care, food and children’s services – include:
- Doctors Without Borders
- Norwegian Refugee Council
- International Rescue Committee
- Caritas
- Oxfam
- ActionAid
- Action Against Hunger
- CARE
