Puttingthesqueeze

The decision to suspend dozens of international humanitarian organisations from operating in Gaza is not just a regulatory adjustment; it is a political statement about who gets to define legitimacy in a war zone.

- 

By tightening registration rules and enforcing them at a moment of extreme civilian vulnerability, Israel has redrawn the boundaries of humanitarian space in ways that will be felt most acutely by ordinary people in Gaza.

At the heart of the controversy lies a fundamental clash between security logic and humanitarian principle. Israel argues that stricter oversight is necessary to prevent militant infiltration and the misuse of aid structures. In isolation, that concern is not unreasonable in a conflict shaped by asymmetric warfare.

Yet humanitarian action operates on neutrality, independence, and trust ~ values that unravel when aid agencies are asked to share sensitive personal data of local staff or conform to politically framed loyalty tests. In such an environment, compliance can endanger lives rather than protect them.