UN Experts Warn Israel’s NGO Ban in Gaza Marks “Genocide Without Witness” as Aid Systems Collapse

The new regulation, announced on 30 December 2025 as a national security measure, bans 37 international NGOs from operating in Gaza and the West Bank.

United Nations human rights experts issued an urgent warning today that Israel’s suspension of dozens of humanitarian organisations operating in the occupied Palestinian territory represents a grave breach of international law—and a decisive escalation in what they describe as a strategy to make life unlivable for Palestinians in Gaza.

The new regulation, announced on 30 December 2025 as a national security measure, bans 37 international NGOs from operating in Gaza and the West Bank. It grants Israeli authorities sweeping discretionary powers to deny or revoke NGO status based on political and ideological criteria, including prior support for international legal proceedings, engagement with boycotts, or failure to affirm Israel’s political character.

“By blocking aid, Israel is worsening life-threatening conditions and heightening the potential criminal responsibility of its leaders,” the UN experts said.

When Humanitarian Infrastructure Is Switched Off

UN experts said the ban marks a new phase in the systematic dismantling of Gaza’s humanitarian lifeline, effectively disabling the operational backbone that delivers food, shelter, healthcare, education, and protection to a population already devastated by mass killing, displacement, and environmental destruction.

“Banning life-saving organisations from Gaza renders survival impossible for a population already subjected to genocide,” the experts warned. “This strategy creates conditions of chronic deprivation that threaten Palestinians’ survival as a group and further violate the Genocide Convention.”

As of 31 December 2025, nearly USD 50 million in life-saving aid remained blocked, amid repeated ceasefire violations, the expansion of Israeli forces into more than half of Gaza, and ongoing airstrikes and shelling that have killed over 400 Palestinians in under three months.

A Deliberate Information and Accountability Blackout

The experts described the current moment as “genocide without witness”—a phase in which humanitarian organisations are paralysed or expelled, journalists are killed or denied access, and public oversight collapses.

“With journalists silenced, aid organisations expelled, and a misleading global perception of ‘ceasefire,’ atrocities are being committed without scrutiny,” they said.

Since October 2023, Israeli forces have reportedly killed:

• Over 500 humanitarian workers

• At least 1,500 health workers

Humanitarian personnel have also faced intimidation, harassment, and smear campaigns. While UNRWA has been the most visible target, the experts stressed it is far from the only organisation affected.

Tech-Enabled Collapse of Aid Delivery

In early December, UN agencies and NGOs were able to deliver only 14,600 tents for 85,000 people, leaving 1.3 million Palestinians without adequate winter shelter. Several people—including six children—have already died from hypothermia, drowning, or cold-related injuries.

The experts noted that Gaza’s collapse is not merely physical but systemic: aid supply chains, logistics platforms, communications networks, health data systems, and coordination mechanisms have been deliberately obstructed.

“There are no words left to describe what Gaza has become,” they said.

No Legal Basis, No Humanitarian Exception

UN experts stressed that Israel, as an occupying power, has no legal authority to block humanitarian aid or impose coercive conditions on aid organisations.

“The occupation is unlawful under international law,” they said. “Blocking life-saving aid in occupied territory—particularly by a State accused of international crimes—is unacceptable.”

They warned that other States may incur responsibility if they fail to take all steps within their power to prevent further acts of genocide.

A Call to Action for Humanitarian Tech, Data, and Governance Innovators

For technologists, humanitarian-tech builders, open-data advocates, and crisis-response innovators, the UN’s warning underscores a critical reality: when humanitarian systems depend on political permission alone, they can be switched off at will.

UN experts urged States—particularly those with influence—to act immediately to guarantee unconditional, sustained, and unrestrained humanitarian access, including through UN-supervised land and sea corridors.

They also pointed to the urgent need for:

• Aid delivery systems resilient to political obstruction

• Independent data and monitoring infrastructures

• Secure documentation of violations for future accountability

• Technologies that preserve witness, evidence, and humanitarian access even amid information blackouts

“Ending Israel’s unlawful occupation and apartheid practices remains the only path to lasting peace,” the experts said. “But until then, States must remove all obstacles to humanitarian action—now.”