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A Palestinian woman cooks near the rubble of residential buildings destroyed during the war, on New Year's Eve in Jabalia, northern Gaza Strip, Dec. 31, 2025. Israel on Dec. 30 said it had suspended operations of more than two dozen humanitarian organizations, including, including Caritas. (OSV News photo/Mahmoud Issa, Reuters)

Israel bans dozens of aid groups from Gaza, including Caritas, drawing condemnation


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OSV News Filed Under: Conflict in the Middle East, Disaster Relief, News, World News

JERUSALEM (OSV News) — Caritas Internationalis and Caritas Jerusalem are among the 37 international aid organizations that Israel’s Ministry of Diaspora Affairs has banned from operating in Gaza by March 1.

According to the ministry, the organizations’ licenses have been revoked as of Jan. 1 for failing to meet new and more strict security and transparency standards regarding their Palestinian and international employees.

Last March, Israel set a 10-month deadline for nongovernmental organizations to meet the new requirements, which mandate the complete disclosure of their staff, funding sources and operational structures. The deadline ended on Dec. 31.

The sun sets over a tent camp sheltering Palestinians displaced by the Israeli offensive, on New Year’s Eve in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Dec. 31, 2025. Israel on Dec. 30 said it had suspended operations of more than two dozen humanitarian organizations, including, including Caritas. (OSV News photo/Ramadan Abed, Reuters)

Israel said the new standards are necessary to rule out any links to terrorism and terrorist organizations and noted that the organizations that have had their licenses revoked represent about 15% of NGOs working in Gaza.

Statements from both the European Union and the United Nations have condemned the move, noting that it would exacerbate the humanitarian situation in Gaza, where the two-year war has left most Gazans homeless, many living in tents amid worsening winter conditions.

A joint statement by 10 foreign ministers was released on Dec. 30, in which they warned of a “catastrophic” and “renewed deterioration of the humanitarian situation” in Gaza.

Farid Jubran, the spokesman of the Latin Patriarchate, noted in a Dec. 31 statement that Caritas Jerusalem is “a humanitarian and development organization operating under the umbrella and governance of the Assembly of the Catholic Ordinaries of the Holy Land.”

He said that in Israel, Caritas Jerusalem is recognized as an ecclesiastical legal person, with its status and mission affirmed by the State of Israel through the 1993 Fundamental Agreement and the 1997 Legal Personality Agreement signed by the Holy See and Israel. He added that Caritas Jerusalem has not “undertaken any re-registration process with the Israeli authorities” and in addition, Caritas Internationalis does not “implement or conduct any direct interventions within the country.”

“Caritas Jerusalem will continue its humanitarian and development operations in Gaza, the West Bank, and Jerusalem, in accordance with its mandate,” he said.

George Anton, administrative director of Caritas Medical Center in Gaza, told OSV News that Caritas is a church charity organization whose work in Gaza is “very important and essential in Gaza” and he hopes they will be able to continue their work.

A number of globally recognized humanitarian aid organizations are also among the aid organizations who have had their license revoked including Doctors Without Borders, Oxfam, CARE, World Vision Internationals and Defense for Children International. While the organizations will not be able to bring in aid from outside Gaza, they still can continue with their work using supplies obtained from within Gaza.

While Israel prevented supplies from reaching Gaza during the devastating two-year war which followed the Oct. 7, 2023, surprise onslaught by Hamas on southern Israeli communities, a fragile October 2025 ceasefire brokered by U.S. President Donald Trump called for, among other things, Israel allowing full transferring of humanitarian aid into Gaza as well as the release of all the remaining Israeli hostages.

The body of one Israeli hostage, Ran Gvili, still remains in Gaza. Israel opposes moving to the second stage of the ceasefire, which includes rebuilding infrastructure, preventing weapons from entering Gaza and disarmament of Hamas and other terrorist groups, and economic investment, until Gvili’s body is returned.

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