Foreign NGOs say Israeli rules deny aid for Gaza

New Israeli legislation regulating foreign aid groups has increasingly been used to deny their requests to bring supplies into Gaza, a joint letter signed by more than 1OO groups said Thursday.

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Ties between foreign-backed aid groups and the Israeli government have long been tense, with Israeli officials often complaining that the organisations are biased.

Those rocky relations have become even more strained since Hamas's October 2023 attack on Israel triggered the Gaza war.

"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 aid groups said.

COGAT, the Israeli defence ministry body overseeing civil affairs in the Palestinian territories, rejected what it called "false claims" made by the organisations.

According to the joint letter, whose signatories include Oxfam and Doctors Without Borders (MSF), at least 60 requests to bring aid into Gaza were rejected in July alone.

UK-based Oxfam said that $2.5 million worth of its supplies, including food, were barred from entering Gaza, while another charity, CARE, said it had not been authorised to bring in aid since March.