Israel is banning dozens of major aid organisations, including some of the world's best-known charities, from working in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, saying they failed to meet new registration requirements.

The agencies said the bans will have a "catastrophic" impact on services delivered to Palestinians, particularly in the Gaza Strip, where most of the population relies on aid.

Israel's Ministry of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism introduced new requirements for international non-governmental organisations (INGOs) in March 2025, with a deadline of January 1, 2026, for them to comply.

The requirements included political and ideological elements, such as recognising Israel is a Jewish and democratic state, and bans on any so-called "de-legitimisation" of Israel.

The Israeli government also demanded the details of all INGO staff and their family members, something INGOs said would be a breach of humanitarian principles and their duty of care, given that Israel has killed hundreds of humanitarian workers in Gaza over the past two years.

"The system relies on vague, arbitrary, and highly politicised criteria and imposes requirements that humanitarian organisations cannot meet without violating international legal obligations or compromising core humanitarian principles," the United Nations Humanitarian Country Team, which coordinates aid to Palestinians, said in a statement on December 17.

A hunger crisis has gripped Gaza for many months since Israel's invasion of the strip. (Reuters: Dawoud Abu Alkas, file)

Among the organisations rejected by the ministry are Doctors Without Borders, Save the Children, Oxfam, Caritas, Action Aid, the International Rescue Committee and World Vision.

Israel's government said the 37 organisations were being banned for failing to submit details of local employees.

"The registration requirement is aimed at preventing the involvement of terrorist elements and at safeguarding the integrity of humanitarian activity, as demonstrated in past cases," the Coordinator of Government Activity in the Territories (COGAT), the Israeli military department responsible for Palestinian civilian affairs, said in a statement.

Plan 'simply unprecedented'

The Israeli government said nine other organisations were rejected for other reasons.

Israel has denied the bans will affect conditions in Gaza, alleging the organisations were only responsible for 1 per cent of the total aid entering Gaza at present.

"The overall scope of humanitarian aid (approximately 99 per cent) is not affected by this measure," COGAT said.