Families are struggling to survive amid the devastation. Israel’s ban on international NGOs will worsen this disaster: The Guardian view on Gaza’s winter [ISRAEL'S WAR ON PALESTINIANS]... the world must take heed as Palestinian suffering deepens again

A child at al-Bureij refugee camp, Nusairat, Gaza Strip. Photograph: APAImages/Shutterstock

As Gaza enters the bleakest period of winter, children are dying of hypothermia, drowning in flooded camps and burning to death as their families try to cook in flimsy tents. Israel destroyed nine out of 10 homes over more than two years of war. Camped amid the ruins, Palestinians struggle against strong winds, heavy rain and freezing temperatures. Aid deliveries resumed following the ceasefire, staving off the famine that had taken hold in parts of the territory, but remain wholly insufficient: 1.6 million people face acute food insecurity. The sanitation infrastructure has collapsed.

The UK, Canada, Japan, France and six other nations have jointly warned that the situation is catastrophic. Yet Israel is now deepening one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. On Tuesday, it announced that it is deregistering 37 NGOs active in Gaza. They must cease all operations there by 1 March unless they meet its new “security and transparency standards” – including by disclosing the personal details of staff. Many of the listed groups are among the best-regarded in their field, including Oxfam, Médecins Sans Frontières and the Norwegian Refugee Council.

Volker Türk, the UN human rights chief, was right to describe this as outrageous – and as part of a pattern of unlawful restrictions on humanitarian access. Israeli NGOs have warned that it breaks the principles of independence and neutrality for humanitarian organisations.

Israel says that the measures are necessary to prevent NGOs employing staff with links to extremist groups. It has repeatedly claimed that Hamas has infiltrated aid organisations and exploited international aid, while providing little evidence. Given the many relief workers arbitrarily detained and killed since the war began, the demand for staff lists has prompted alarm. Israel has reportedly refused requests for meetings on the issue.

Meanwhile, as Israel bars life-saving supplies such as tent poles and generators from humanitarian shipments, claiming they could be exploited for military purposes, it allows traders to bring such items into the territory. While ordinary Palestinians suffer, players inside and outside the territory profit financially and politically. US officers in Israel have reportedly urged that key items, including tent poles, be removed from the blacklist – without success... READ MORE  https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jan/02/the-guardian-view-on-gazas-winter-the-world-must-take-heed-as-palestinian-suffering-deepens-again

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