Press Releases

Bethlehem, 31 December 2025

The Israeli colonial-apartheid regime has announced that it will revoke the licenses of 37 international non-government organizations (INGOs) operating in Gaza and the West Bank, forcing them to stop operations by 31 December 2025. This is not a bureaucratic adjustment; it is a deliberate, coercive measure to eliminate international presence and aid and a key component of the Israeli “Decisive Plan.” Simultaneously, the Israeli regime has recently passed an amendment to the laws banning UNRWA: prohibiting the provision of basic services to the agency such as electricity, water, and banking and confiscating its premises in Jerusalem. The expulsion of INGOs and the ban on UNRWA are two sides of the same strategy: a deliberate and concentrated effort to remove international presence, silence witnesses, suppress resistance and enable continuous international crimes.

Since 1968, the Israeli regime has systematically obstructed UN mechanisms, from denying access to Special Committees and Special Rapporteurs to preventing on-site monitoring by UN investigative bodies. In recent years, this escalation has been sharp, particularly with the 2025 UNRWA ban and revised INGO registration regulations. First initiated in March 2025,  the revised INGO registration system imposes vague, politicized criteria, and those who resist or question it face intimidation, sanctions, and closure. Both of these actions deny visas, block registration, and impose politicized vetting processes. Schools, medical facilities, and relief programs are under siege, denied funding, and blocked from operating. In practice, this constitutes a forced expulsion of the very actors essential for the survival and protection of Palestinians, directly undermining their rights and safety. The result is a collapse of international monitoring and protection, creating conditions that enable genocide in Gaza and accelerate forcible displacement, home demolitions, land confiscation, and suppression in the West Bank and Gaza.

This campaign is part of a long-term strategy to eliminate Palestinian presence, mobilization, and resistance, and normalize a new status quo of suppression while consolidating apartheid control through the imposition of Israeli “sovereignty.” By expelling humanitarian and human rights actors - especially UNRWA - and erasing the last remnants of international oversight, the Israeli regime is systematically removing accountability and further enabling its ongoing crimes and entrenching its colonial domination. 

States bear responsibility: continued military, financial, and political support, diplomatic cover, and normalization all enable these crimes. Silence and inaction are not neutral; they are endorsements. By allowing the Israeli regime to ban and obstruct UNRWA - the mandated and most capable organization providing services and aid, States paved the way for the ban to extend to other international organizations. Ensuring the presence and operations of UNRWA and international organizations is an obligation, not a charity or favor. States, UN agencies, and international bodies cannot rely on statements alone; immediate two-way military embargo, political, financial, and diplomatic sanctions are required to prevent ongoing crimes, end complicity, and ensure protection that the Palestinian people are entitled to.