Israeli court allows NGOs facing Gaza ban to keep operating, for now
Israel in December ordered 37 international organisations including medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres and the Norwegian Refugee Council to halt work in Gaza and the occupied West Bank within 60 days unless they agreed to the new rules.
Israel's Supreme Court on Friday temporarily blocked the government from shuttering the Gaza operations of dozens of aid organisations, which petitioned the court in a dispute over new Israeli rules requiring them to name Palestinian staff.
Israel in December ordered 37 international organisations including medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres and the Norwegian Refugee Council to halt work in Gaza and the occupied West Bank within 60 days unless they agreed to the new rules.
Some 17 NGOs and the Association of International Development Agencies (AIDA) sought an urgent suspension of the decision in a petition to the Israeli High Court of Justice on Sunday, warning of devastating humanitarian consequences.
Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel
Israel's Supreme Court issued a temporary injunction that would allow the NGOs to continue most of their activities while it considers their petition.
The aid groups say sharing staff information could pose a safety risk given that hundreds of aid workers have been killed or injured during the war in Gaza. Israel has said the registrations were meant to prevent diversions of aid by Palestinian armed groups. Aid agencies dispute that substantial aid has been diverted.
Athena Rayburn, AIDA's executive director, said they were "still waiting to see how the injunction will be interpreted by the state and whether or not this will mean an increase in our ability to operate," adding that the situation inside Gaza remained "catastrophic".
Spokespeople for Israel's government did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
