Latest news with #JolienVeldwijk
Days of Palestine
3 days ago
- Health
- Days of Palestine
Millions in Gaza Aid Stuck in Warehouses as Israel Blocks NGO Deliveries, Groups Warn
More than 100 humanitarian organisations, including Doctors Without Borders (MSF) and Save the Children, have accused Israel of deliberately blocking life-saving aid to the Gaza Strip, leaving millions of dollars' worth of food, medicine, water, and shelter materials stranded in warehouses across Jordan and Egypt. In a joint statement, the groups said Israel had rejected requests from 'dozens' of NGOs to deliver aid, claiming the organisations were 'not authorised to deliver aid' — despite many of them having operated in Gaza for decades. The restrictions, they said, are worsening an already catastrophic humanitarian crisis, where Israeli-imposed starvation has killed more than 200 Palestinians so far, half of them children. In July alone, Israel reportedly denied around 60 aid delivery requests. Sean Carroll, president and CEO of the US-based NGO Anera, said his organisation has over $7 million worth of supplies ready to enter Gaza — including 744 tons of rice, enough for six million meals — but it remains blocked just kilometres away at the Israeli port of Ashdod. New restrictions and data demands The statement attributes the obstruction to new rules imposed by Israel in March, requiring international NGOs to undergo a registration process that allows authorities to reject applicants based on broad and politically charged allegations such as 'delegitimising Israel.' Groups can also be barred if any staff member, partner, board member, or founder has expressed public support for the boycott of Israel in the past seven years. The process further requires NGOs to hand over sensitive details, including donor information and lists of Palestinian staff. Some organisations were given a seven-day ultimatum to comply, under threat of being banned from operating in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Humanitarian groups say these demands violate data protection laws and put Palestinian staff at risk. The statement highlighted that 88 percent of aid workers killed by Israeli strikes in Gaza since the war began were Palestinian. 'Our mandate is to save lives' Jolien Veldwijk, country director of Care, said her organisation has been barred from delivering $1.5 million worth of essential items — including food parcels, medical supplies, hygiene kits, and maternal care items — since Israel's total siege began on March 2. Oxfam's policy lead, Bushra Khalidi, reported $2.5 million worth of aid blocked from entering Gaza. The statement accuses Israel of seeking to 'block impartial aid, exclude Palestinian actors, and replace humanitarian organisations' with the militarised Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a body criticised for its lack of neutrality. 'At this point, everyone knows what the correct, humane answer is — and it's not a floating pier, airdrops, or the GHF,' said Carroll. 'The answer is to open all the borders, at all hours, to the thousands of trucks, millions of meals, and medical supplies ready and waiting nearby.' The NGOs urged governments and donors to challenge Israeli demands for sensitive personnel information, end what they called the 'weaponisation of aid,' and press for the immediate and unconditional reopening of all land crossings into Gaza. Since October 2023, Israel has imposed tight restrictions on aid entering Gaza, following Hamas's deadly attack inside Israel on October 7. The blockade — combined with large-scale military operations — has devastated Gaza's infrastructure, displaced the majority of its 2.3 million residents, and pushed the territory to the brink of famine. UN agencies warn that at least half a million people in Gaza are facing catastrophic levels of hunger, and that without the large-scale entry of aid by land, famine is inevitable. Land crossings remain the only viable way to deliver the volume of food and supplies needed to avert mass starvation, as air and sea routes can handle only a fraction of the demand. Shortlink for this post:
Al-Ahram Weekly
5 days ago
- Politics
- Al-Ahram Weekly
NGOs warn Israeli restrictions choke Gaza aid
More than 100 international aid groups have warned that new Israeli restrictions are increasingly being used to block their requests to deliver supplies into Gaza, risking the shutdown of most humanitarian operations in the territory within weeks, according to a joint letter published Thursday. "Israeli authorities have rejected requests from dozens of NGOs to bring in lifesaving goods, citing that these organisations are 'not authorised to deliver aid'," the joint statement reads, as reported by AFP. According to the letter, whose signatories include Oxfam and Doctors Without Borders (MSF), at least 60 requests to bring aid into Gaza were rejected in July alone. In March, Israel's government approved a new set of restrictions for foreign non-governmental organisations (NGOs) working with Palestinians. The law updates the framework for how aid groups must register to maintain their status within Israel, along with provisions that outline how their applications can be denied or registration revoked. Registration can be rejected if Israeli occupation authorities deem that a group denies the allegedly "democratic character" of Israel or "promotes delegitimisation campaigns" against the country. Aid groups say that the new rules are leaving Gazans without help. "Our mandate is to save lives, but due to the registration restrictions civilians are being left without the food, medicine and protection they urgently need," said Jolien Veldwijk, director of the charity CARE in the Palestinian territories. Veldwijk said that CARE has not been able to deliver any aid to Gaza since Israel imposed a full blockade on the Palestinian territory in March, despite partially easing it in May. Last week, the UN called for the Israeli authorities to rescind its requirement introduced on 9 March obliging NGOs to share 'sensitive personal information about their Palestinian employees or face termination of their humanitarian operations in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem,' In a joint statement, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the Humanitarian Country Team — a coordination body of UN entities and over 200 international and local NGOs —warned against Israeli plans to de-register many international NGO partners working in the occupied Palestinian territories in the coming weeks for refusing to provide personal information about their Palestinian employees. 'Unless urgent action is taken, humanitarian organisations warn that most international NGO partners could be de-registered by 9 September or sooner, forcing them to withdraw all international staff and preventing them from providing critical, life-saving humanitarian assistance to Palestinians,' the statement read. Since May, the Israeli government has relied on the US-Israeli so-called Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) to manage food distribution centres. However, the GHF operations have been frequently marred by chaos and bloodshed as thousands of Gazans have scrambled each day to approach its hubs, where at least 1,700 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli soldiers. The United Nations and international aid organisations have warned that famine was unfolding in Gaza as more than 193 Palestinians, including more than 100 children, died of hunger because of a five-month-old Israeli blockade on the strip. Follow us on: Facebook Instagram Whatsapp Short link:
Middle East Eye
5 days ago
- Politics
- Middle East Eye
'Millions of dollars' of Gaza aid stranded in warehouses as Israel rejects NGO requests for entry
The Israeli authorities have rejected requests from "dozens" of NGOs for life-saving aid to enter the Gaza Strip, leaving "millions of dollars'' worth of goods stranded in warehouses, over 100 organisations have reported. A statement signed by NGOs, including Doctors Without Borders (MSF) and Save the Children, reported that Israel had denied the requests on the grounds that the organisations were "not authorised to deliver aid", despite many of them having worked in Gaza for decades. Consequently, millions of dollars worth of food, medicine, water and shelter equipment is currently languishing in warehouses across Jordan and Egypt, while Israeli-imposed starvation grips Gaza - killing over 200 Palestinians so far, half of them children. In July alone, the authorities refused some 60 requests for aid deliveries, according to the statement. Sean Carroll, president and CEO of the NGO Anera, said the organisation "has over "$7m worth of lifesaving supplies ready to enter Gaza – including 744 tons of rice, enough for six million meals, blocked in Ashdod just kilometres away". New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters The organisations said the obstruction stems from new INGO registration rules introduced by Israel in March, which stipulate that applicants can be rejected on the basis of arbitrary and politicised allegations such as "delegitimising Israel". Under the provisions, organisations can also be rejected on the basis that their staff, a partner, board member or founder showed public support for the boycott of Israel in the past seven years. Registration also requires NGOs to disclose sensitive details about their personnel, including private donors and lists of Palestinian staff, with some issued a seven-day ultimatum to provide this information. If they fail to submit this data, organisations could be barred from operating in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem. The statement emphasised that the "sharing such data is unlawful (including under relevant data protection laws), unsafe, and incompatible with humanitarian principles". They added that NGOs have no guarantees that handing over this information will not put their staff at further risk, given 88 percent of humanitarian workers killed by Israeli attacks in Gaza were Palestinian. 'Our mandate is to save lives' Jolien Veldwijk, the country director of Care, said that the organisation had been barred from delivering $1.5m worth of aid to Gaza since Israel imposed its total siege on the territory on 2 March. "This includes critical shipments of food parcels, medical supplies, hygiene kits, dignity kits, and maternal and infant care items," Velwijk said. 'He was ashamed to go there': Wife mourns killing of 'Palestinian Pele' at Gaza aid site Read More » "Our mandate is to save lives, but due to the registration restrictions civilians are being left without the food, medicine, and protection they urgently need". Meanwhile, Bushra Khalidi, Oxfam's policy lead, reported that Israel had blocked the entry of $2.5m worth of goods gathered by the organisation into Gaza. The statement said that the restrictions form part of a broader strategy by Israel, which aims to "block impartial aid, exclude Palestinian actors, and replace humanitarian organisations" with the militarised aid distribution scheme run by the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). 'At this point, everyone knows what the correct, humane answer is, and it's not a floating pier, airdrops or the 'GHF'", Anera's Carroll said. "The answer, to save lives, save humanity and save yourselves from complicity in engineered mass starvation, is to open all the borders, at all hours, to the thousands of trucks, millions of meals and medical supplies, ready and waiting nearby," he added. The statement called on all states and donors to "end the weaponisation of aid", challenge Israeli requirements that NGOs share sensitive personnel information and demand "the immediate and unconditional opening of all land crossings and conditions for the delivery of lifesaving humanitarian aid".
Roya News
5 days ago
- Health
- Roya News
Global NGOs criticize 'Israel's' restrictions on Gaza aid in open letter
A growing number of foreign aid organizations say they are being prevented from delivering essential supplies to Gaza due to recently enacted 'Israeli' legislation, according to a joint letter published Thursday and signed by over 100 groups, including Oxfam and Doctors Without Borders. The letter highlights that tensions between 'Israel' and foreign-backed NGOs have long existed, with officials often criticizing the organizations for bias. "Israeli authorities have rejected requests from dozens of NGOs to bring in lifesaving goods, citing that these organisations are 'not authorised to deliver aid'," the joint statement reads. The letter notes that at least 60 such requests were denied in July alone. The new law, approved in March, updates the registration requirements for foreign NGOs working with Palestinians and outlines the conditions under which applications can be denied or a group's registration revoked. Authorities may reject registration if a group is deemed to deny 'Israel's' democratic character or "promotes delegitimisation campaigns" against the country. "Unfortunately, many aid organisations serve as a cover for hostile and sometimes violent activity," 'Israel's' Diaspora Minister Amichai Chikli told Agence France-Presse (AFP). "Organizations that have no connection to hostile or violent activity and no ties to the boycott movement will be granted permission to operate," he added. Aid organizations, however, argue that the law is leaving civilians without critical support. "Our mandate is to save lives, but due to the registration restrictions civilians are being left without the food, medicine and protection they urgently need," said Jolien Veldwijk, director of CARE in the Palestinian territories. Veldwijk noted that CARE has been unable to deliver aid to Gaza since 'Israel' imposed a full blockade in March, despite a partial easing in May. 'Israel' has cited concerns over Hamas diverting aid as a reason for the restrictions. Since May, the government has relied on the controversial US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) to manage food distribution. Meanwhile, Gaza's civil defense agency reports ongoing chaos at distribution centers, with thousands of residents scrambling for supplies each day and some injured by gunfire from the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF).
