Assistance into Gaza faces bureaucratic hurdles while many go hungry - Salaam
As-salamu alaykum. International aid to Gaza is being slowed by a new Israeli rule requiring groups to re-register with its Ministry of Diaspora and Combating Anti‑Semitism, according to humanitarian organisations. Under the ceasefire from October 10, Israel was supposed to allow at least 600 aid trucks a day into Gaza, but military figures show only 1,899 trucks entered in October - about 61 per day on average.
The UN said it has had 107 requests denied since the ceasefire began from more than 30 local and international NGOs seeking to bring in essentials like blankets, winter clothes and hygiene kits. “More than half of the requests were denied because the organisations were not authorised to bring relief items into Gaza,” a UN spokesperson said.
The UN declared a famine in Gaza city in August and warned it could spread across the Strip without enough food and medical supplies to detect and treat malnutrition. One humanitarian worker pointed out that 600 trucks a day is the bare minimum to prevent deaths; around 1,000 trucks daily would be needed for recovery.
Humanitarian groups say the re‑registration demand - affecting organisations that have worked in the Palestinian Territories for years - provides an extra reason to refuse aid entry. After international pressure the deadline was extended from September 8 to December 31, but the process still asks international NGOs to hand over detailed lists of Palestinian and foreign staff involved in their operations, including names and passport or ID numbers.
Sources say this level of staff vetting is new and raises ethical and legal concerns, since sharing staff personal data may conflict with privacy laws that many NGOs must follow. There are worries about what will happen to that information and whether it could affect future hiring decisions.
The registration rules are vague and can be interpreted widely. Grounds for rejection include ties to terrorist activity or incitement, but also cover anyone who has called for a boycott of Israel in the past seven years. Israel has also moved to ban its officials from communicating with the UN agency for Palestinian refugees and has barred that agency from operating in parts of the occupied territories. That agency employs thousands and provides vital logistics, warehouses and staff that many charities rely on.
The president of the International Court of Justice said in October that Israel had not substantiated its accusations against the UN agency and that UN bodies should be able to provide relief. Still, until re‑registration approvals are granted, many established UN agencies and NGOs remain unable to deliver aid, reducing the number of organisations who can respond.
As one aid official put it, the scale of this catastrophe cannot be handled by just one or two groups - the capacity simply does not exist. This is less a logistical issue and more a political one. We must remove barriers so humanitarian help can reach families in Gaza before winter makes the situation far worse.
May Allah make it easy for those trying to bring relief and protect the innocent. Please keep the people of Gaza in your duas.
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