As Israel initiates a fresh military campaign in Gaza this week, the Washington Center for Human Rights (WCHR) shares serious concern regarding escalating actions by the Israeli government to suppress humanitarian aid and muzzle human rights activism in the occupied Palestinian territories. The events represent a concerning direction for the continuing violence, exacerbating humanitarian distress and diminishing global norms.
Over the past few weeks, the Israeli authorities have pushed forward new rules aimed at international and local organizations operating humanitarian activities or recording human rights abuses in the West Bank and Gaza. These encompass broad visa and registration regulations that subject international aid organizations to intrusive disclosure obligations, such as the compelled disclosure of private information of Palestinian personnel. At the same time, the Knesset is considering a draconian bill that would subject foreign government grants to Israeli NGOs to an 80% tax and bar those who receive them from going to Israeli courts to appeal.
The legislation would have a direct effect on groups such as Breaking the Silence and other rights organizations that have played a key role in legal opposition to arbitrary detention and abuse by Israeli troops during the conflict. The sponsor of the bill, Likud MP Ariel Kallner, has criticized these groups for “delegitimizing” Israel, raising concern among human rights monitors about the politicization of civil society monitoring.
The Washington Center for Human Rights regards these measures as a previously unprecedented assault on the architecture of humanitarian protection. Criminalizing humanitarian aid and legal advocacy in the interests of national security undermines democratic norms as well as international humanitarian law. Not only do these steps place in harm’s way aid workers more than 200 of whom have died in this war — but also dismantle the very few avenues remaining of accountability.
The proposal by the Israeli government to selectively coordinate relief on a controlled basis through U.S. contractor-managed hubs and limited to “vetted” Palestinian families jeopardizes the weaponization of humanitarian relief. All such measures are commonly perceived as efforts to push international NGOs into legitimizing an extremely unequal and militarized distribution model.
WCHR calls upon the Israeli Government to:
- Immediately stop the passage of any law limiting funding for or curtailing judicial rights of Palestinian civil society organizations;
- Withdraw new aid group registration requirements threatening Palestinian staff privacy and security;
- Ensure free, unfettered access for all humanitarian agencies in Gaza and the West Bank according to international humanitarian law.
We urge the global community — and the United States, European Union, and United Nations — to condemn and reject these actions in the strongest terms and continue their support for the targeted organizations by these oppressive measures.
The Washington Center for Human Rights joins its solidarity with all human rights defenders, humanitarian workers, and civil society activists who remain committed to their work despite threats of persecution, censorship, and violence. We reaffirm that standing up for human dignity and speaking truth to power are not crimes but responsibilities.