Fresh restrictions imposed by Israel on international charities and humanitarian groups are further paralysing relief efforts in Gaza, where civilians are already enduring the pressures of a prolonged genocidal war. The head of the United Nations body responsible for Palestinian refugees warned that these measures risk pushing humanitarian operations towards collapse, describing them as a precedent that could reverberate far beyond the enclave.

The new rules follow legislation that allows Israeli authorities to cut water, electricity, fuel and communications to humanitarian facilities and to seize United Nations property in occupied East Jerusalem. Together, these steps have sharply limited the ability of aid organisations to operate, even as displacement and deprivation deepen. Scores of international groups have been barred from working in Gaza, including medical and relief organisations that previously formed the backbone of emergency assistance.

Under the regulations, humanitarian workers can be excluded for positions or statements deemed politically unacceptable, including criticism of Israeli military conduct or support for international legal action. Aid officials argue that such conditions undermine the core humanitarian principles of neutrality and independence, turning life-saving assistance into a tool of political control rather than a response to human need.

The consequences are unfolding on the ground. Makeshift tents crowd refugee camps, supplies remain scarce, and repeated requests to allow aid convoys into Gaza have been rejected despite a ceasefire. International legal bodies have already ruled that Israel, as an occupying power, must facilitate humanitarian access to ensure civilians’ survival, yet restrictions continue to tighten as the genocidal war grinds on.