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Israel threatens to ban major aid organisations as starvation deepens

JOINT STATEMENT:

Over 100 organisations call for an end to Israel’s weaponisation of aid

Despite claims by Israeli authorities that there is no limit on humanitarian aid entering Gaza, most major international NGOs have been unable to deliver a single truck of lifesaving supplies since 2 March. Instead of clearing the growing backlog of goods, Israeli authorities have rejected requests from dozens of NGOs to bring in lifesaving goods, citing that these organizations are “not authorized to deliver aid.” In July alone, over 60 requests were denied under this justification.

This obstruction has left millions of dollars’ worth of food, medicine, water, and shelter items stranded in warehouses across Jordan and Egypt, while Palestinians are being starved.

“Anera has over $7 million worth of lifesaving supplies ready to enter Gaza – including 744 tons of rice, enough for six million meals, blocked in Ashdod just kilometers away,” said Sean Carroll, President and CEO of Anera.

Many of the NGOs now told they are not “authorized” to deliver aid have worked in Gaza for decades, are trusted by communities and experienced in delivering aid safely. Their exclusion has left hospitals without basic supplies, children, people with disabilities, and older people dying from hunger and preventable illnesses, and aid workers themselves going to work hungry. The obstruction is tied to new INGO registration rules introduced in March. Under these new
rules, registration can be denied on the basis of vague and politicized criteria, such as alleged “delegitimization” of the state of Israel. INGOs warned the process was designed to control independent organizations, silence advocacy, and censor humanitarian reporting. This new bureaucratic obstruction is inconsistent with established international law as it entrenches Israel’s control and annexation of the occupied Palestinian territory.

Unless INGOs submit to the full registration requirements, including the mandatory submission of details of private donors, complete Palestinian staff lists and other sensitive information about personnel for so-called “security” vetting to Israeli authorities, many could be forced to halt operations in Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and remove all international staff within 60 days. Some organizations have even been issued a seven-day ultimatum to provide Palestinian staff lists.NGOs have made clear that sharing such data is unlawful (including under relevant data protection laws), unsafe, and incompatible with humanitarian principles. In the deadliest context for aid workers worldwide, where 98 percent of those humanitarians killed were
Palestinian, NGOs have no guarantees that handing over such information would not put staff at further risk, or be used to advance the government of Israel’s stated military and political aims.

Today, INGOs’ fears have proven true: the registration system is now being used to further block aid and deny food and medicine in the midst of the worst-case scenario of famine.

“Since the full siege was imposed on 2 March, CARE has not been able to deliver any of our $1.5 million worth of pre-positioned supplies into Gaza,” said Jolien Veldwijk, Country Director of CARE. “This includes critical shipments of food parcels, medical supplies, hygiene kits, dignity kits, and maternal and infant care items. 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.”

“Oxfam has over $2.5 million worth of goods that have been rejected from entering Gaza by Israel, especially WASH and hygiene items as well as food,” said Bushra Khalidi, Oxfam Policy Lead. “This registration process signals to INGOs that their ability to operate may come at the cost of their independence and ability to speak out.”

These restrictions are part of a broader strategy that includes the so-called “GHF” scheme – a militarised distribution mechanism promoted as a humanitarian solution. In reality, it is a deadly tool of control, with at least 859 Palestinians killed around “GHF” sites since it began operating.

“The militarized food distribution scheme has weaponized starvation and curated suffering. Distributions at GHF sites have resulted in extreme levels of violence and killings, primarily of young Palestinian men, but also of women and children, who have gone to the sites in the hope of receiving food,” according to Aitor Zabalgogeazkoa, MSF emergency coordinator in Gaza.

Both the “GHF” scheme and the INGO registration process aim to block impartial aid, exclude Palestinian actors, and replace trusted humanitarian organisations with mechanisms that serve political and military objectives. They come as the government of Israel to escalate its military offensive and deepen its occupation in Gaza, making clear these measures are part of a broader strategy to entrench control and erase Palestinian presence.

“At this point, everyone knows what the correct, humane answer is, and it’s not a floating pier, airdrops or the “GHF.” 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,” said Sean Carroll of Anera.

We call on all states and donors to:

  • Press Israel to end the weaponization of aid, including through bureaucratic obstruction, such as the INGO registration procedures.
  • Insist that INGOs are not forced to share sensitive personal information, in violation of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), or compromise staff safety or independence as a condition for delivering aid.
  • Demand the immediate and unconditional opening of all land crossings and conditions for the delivery of lifesaving humanitarian aid.

Editor’s Notes:

  • The occupied Palestinian territory is the deadliest setting for aid workers worldwide, with Palestinian staff accounting for 98% of aid worker fatalities: 509 out of 517 killings that took place between 2023-2025, according to the Aid Worker Security Database.
  • On 6 May, 55 organizations warned that Israel’s new INGO registration measures are a grave threat to humanitarian operations and international law.
  • On 1 July, 200+ organisations called for immediate action to end the deadly Israeli distribution scheme, including the so-called “GHF” in Gaza, revert to the existing UN-led coordination mechanisms, and lift the Israeli government’s blockade on aid and commercial supplies.
  • On 23 July, 100+ organisations warned that, as mass starvation spreads across Gaza, our colleagues and those we serve are wasting away.
  •  On 29 July, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) wrote that the worst-case scenario of famine is currently playing out in the Gaza Strip.
  • Israel has consistently denied restricting the amount of aid allowed into Gaza, including throughout the period of July 2025, when most of the denials discussed in this statement were issued.
  • On 31 July, OHCHR wrote that since 27 May, at least 1,373 Palestinians have been killed while seeking food; 859 in the vicinity of the “GHF” sites and 514 along the droutes of food convoys. Most of these killings were committed by the Israeli forces.
  • On 4 August, a Palestinian nurse in Gaza was killed when an airdrop struck him.
  • On 5 August, it was reported that Israeli authorities are planning for the full occupation of the Gaza Strip.
  • On 6 August, UN agencies and NGOs warned that without immediate action most international NGO partners could be de-registered by Israel in coming weeks.
  • On 6 August, the Dutch Data Protection Authority (DPA) concluded that Israel’s information requests under the INGO registration process risk violating the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The DPA advised that INGOs should not comply with these requests, and that the only solution is for Israel to amend its requirements and for the relevant ministries to issue a formal protest.
  • On 7 August, MSF released a report stating food distributions in Gaza run by the so-called “GHF” are sites of “orchestrated killing and dehumanization” that must be shut down.”
  • On 10 August, Save the Children reported the deaths of 100 children due to starvation in Gaza since October 2023.
  • On 12 August, a group of UN Special Rapporteurs on human rights published a letter to the Israeli government, stating deep concern that the INGO registration measures “weaken the ability of INGOs to operate independently and impartially and to carry out their humanitarian and human rights work without interference or fear of reprisal” and that “that the obligation to report on INGO personnel, in the context of occupation, armed conflict and serious violations of international law, could raise serious protection and reprisal concerns.”

Signatories:  

1. Action Against Hunger (ACF)
2. A New Policy
3. ACT Alliance
4. Action For Humanity
5. ActionAid Denmark
6. ActionAid International
7. All We Can
8. Alliance Sud
9. American Friends Service Committee (AFSC)
10. Americares
11. Anera
12. Asamblea de Cooperación por la Paz
13. Bystanders No More
14. Campaign Against Arms Trade
15. Canadian Foodgrains Bank
16. CARE
17. Caritas Internationalis
18. Caritas Jerusalem
19. Caritas Middle East and North Africa
20. Caritas Switzerland
21. Center for Jewish Nonviolence
22. Charity & Security Network
23. Children Not Numbers
24. Christian Aid
25. Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP)
26. CISS – Cooperazione Internazionale Sud Sud
27. Committee to Protect Journalists
28. Cooperation Canada
29. COORDINADORA VALENCIANA ONGD
30. DanChurchAid
31. Danish Refugee Council (DRC)
32. Department of Service to the Palestinian Refugees
33. Diakonia
34. Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe
35. EDUCO
36. Embrace the Middle East37. Emergency – Life Support for Civilian War Victims Ong Ets
38. Entreculturas
39. Forum Ziviler Friedensdienst e.V. (Pro Peace)
40. Frieda – the Feminist Peace Organization
41. Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL)
42. Fund for Global Human Rights
43. Glia
44. HEKS/EPER (Swiss Church Aid)
45. HelpAge International
46. Humanitarian Coalition
47. Humanity Auxilium
48. Humanity & Inclusion – Handicap International
49. Humanity First UK
50. INARA
51. Insecurity Insight
52. International Development and Relief Foundation (IDRF)
53. INTERSOS
54. Islamic Relief
55. Jahalin Solidarity
56. Japan International Volunteer Center (JVC)
57. Jüdische Stimme für Demokratie und Gerechtigkeit in Israel/Palästina JVJP Switzerland
58. KinderUSA
59. Kvinna till Kvinna Foundation
60. La Coordinadora de Organizaciones para el Desarrollo (The Spanish Development NGO Platform)
61. Médecins du Monde International Network
62. Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)
63. MedGlobal
64. Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP)
65. medico international
66. medico international schweiz
67. Mennonite Central Committee (MCC)
68. Middle East Children’s Alliance
69. MPower Change Action Fund
70. Muslim Aid
71. NORWAC – Norwegian Aid Committee
72. Norwegian Church Aid
73. Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA)
74. Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC)
75. Oxfam
76. Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund (PCRF)
77. PANZMA – Palestinian Australian New Zealand Medical Association
78. PARCIC
79. Pax Christi International
80. PAX for Peace81. Peace Watch Switzerland
82. People in Need (PIN)
83. Plan International
84. Polish Humanitarian Action (PAH)
85. Portuguese Platform of Development NGOs
86. Premiere Urgence Internationale (PUI)
87. Project HOPE
88. Relief International
89. Right to Play
90. Sabeel-Kairos UK
91. Saferworld
92. Save the Children International
93. Secours Islamique France (SIF)
94. Solidar Suisse
95. Solidarités International
96. SWISSAID
97. Terre des Hommes Italy
98. Terre des Hommes Lausanne
99. The Eastern Mediterranean Public Health Network (EMPHNET)
100. The United Church of Canada
101. United Against Inhumanity (UAI)
102. Vento di Terra
103. War Child Alliance
104. Weltfriedensdienst e.V.

Contact information:

For more information or to schedule an interview, please contact [email protected]

Climate Justice for Women in Timor-Leste

Oxfam has published a new report: “Climate Justice for Women in Timor-Leste“

Timor-Leste is one of the most climate-vulnerable nations in the world, facing increasingly intense rainfall, cyclones, floods, and droughts. These climate impacts are not only devastating rural livelihoods, food systems, and water security, but are also widening gender inequalities and deepening poverty. Women across the country—especially those in remote and marginalised communities—are bearing the brunt of climate disasters, with limited access to recovery resources, secure land, and decision-making power.

In this context, Oxfam in Timor-Leste has released a vital new report: Climate Justice for Women in Timor-Leste: Tracking Climate Finance to Build Resilience. The report exposes a critical gap in how climate finance is currently distributed. Despite repeated global and national commitments to gender equality, only 2.4% of climate finance in Timor-Leste supports projects that prioritise gender equality. Even more concerning, just 0.4% of climate funding directly supports women’s organisations or cooperatives.

This lack of targeted investment has serious consequences. Women are at the heart of climate resilience in Timor-Leste—they manage agroforestry, lead savings groups, and organise community disaster preparedness. Yet their work is underfunded, underrecognised, and often excluded from climate policy and finance decisions. Without change, climate finance risks reinforcing the very inequalities it should be addressing.

The report also maps the complex network of climate finance decision-makers in the country, from the National Designated Authority and the Ministry of Tourism and Environment, to international donors such as the Green Climate Fund and multilateral development banks. It highlights the lack of transparency and accessible information around climate finance flows, making it nearly impossible for communities—and especially women—to track whether funds are actually reaching those most affected by climate impacts.

Importantly, the report provides a roadmap for change. It calls on bilateral partners, development banks, and the Timorese government to commit a greater share of climate finance to gender equality, create mechanisms to fund women-led initiatives, and improve public transparency through platforms available in Tetun. Ensuring that climate finance supports women’s rights is not only a matter of justice—it is a pathway to more effective, inclusive, and sustainable climate solutions.

This analysis was conducted under the Kōtui Programme, a regional initiative led by Oxfam Aotearoa with support from the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Kōtui aims to improve gender equality and women’s access to resources that enhance their resilience and wellbeing in the face of climate change.

In a time when climate finance must become more equitable and accountable, Climate Justice for Women in Timor-Leste serves as both a warning and a guide. It reminds us that empowering women is not just a side goal of climate action—it is central to building lasting resilience for all.

Read the report here. 

Women’s Experiences of Climate Change Impacts in Timor-Leste

Oxfam has published a new report: “Women’s Experiences of Climate Change Impacts in Timor-Leste”

Across Timor-Leste, women are on the frontlines of the climate crisis—grappling with the intensifying impacts of cyclones, floods, droughts, and environmental degradation. A new report, Women’s Experiences of Climate Change Impacts in Timor-Leste, produced by Oxfam in Timor-Leste in partnership with Alumni Parlamentu Foinsa’e Timor-Leste (APFTL) and Core Group Transparency (CGT), sheds light on the harsh realities and invisible burdens faced by women—especially those in rural communities in Dili, Ermera, and Manatuto.

The findings show that climate change is not gender neutral. Women face compounded vulnerabilities, often balancing the responsibilities of caregiving, food production, and economic recovery in the wake of disasters. Cyclone Seroja in 2021 exemplified the destructive force of climate events, displacing thousands, damaging farmland, and plunging families into long-term insecurity. Women like Manuela Rosario Soares and Teresa Pereira shared moving accounts of how they navigated crises with resilience, despite minimal institutional support.

The report also documents the psychological toll on women, the heightened risks of gender-based violence during displacement, and the challenges women with disabilities face in emergency situations. Structural barriers—such as insecure land tenure, discrimination, and exclusion from decision-making—further intensify these risks. For example, many women are unable to access recovery subsidies because land titles are often held by men, or because they live in informal or prohibited areas.

Yet, despite these challenges, women emerge as powerful agents of resilience. The report highlights how women form savings groups, manage agroforestry initiatives, organize disaster preparedness plans, and step into leadership roles. These contributions are often overlooked, under-resourced, or unsupported by formal systems. Even as women demonstrate leadership and adaptability, they continue to face obstacles accessing climate finance, infrastructure, and platforms for decision-making.

In response, the report calls for stronger gender-responsive policies, inclusive planning processes, and direct investment in women-led initiatives. It emphasizes that to truly build climate resilience in Timor-Leste, the unique knowledge, roles, and needs of women must be recognized and supported at all levels—from government to community-based organizations.

This research is part of the Kōtui Programme, a partnership between Oxfam Aotearoa and the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Kōtui aims to strengthen the resilience, wellbeing, and agency of women in the face of climate breakdown and disaster, particularly for those facing multiple layers of marginalization.

Women’s Experiences of Climate Change Impacts in Timor-Leste is not only a report—it is a testament to the strength of Timorese women and a call to action to build a more just and inclusive response to the climate crisis.

Read the report here. 

Oxfam reaction to the Israeli cabinet’s decision to take direct military control of Gaza City

Reacting to the recent announcement of the Israeli cabinet’s decision to take direct military control of Gaza City, Bushra Khalidi, Oxfam’s Policy Lead in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, said:

“This decision marks a dangerous escalation in the ongoing illegal occupation of Palestinian territory — a brazen act of erasure carried out in full view of the world and in open defiance of the UN General Assembly’s call to end the occupation. It signals a clear intent to entrench Israel’s control over Gaza rather than to end the genocide.

“Two million Palestinians have endured starvation, bombardment, and the systematic stripping of their rights. Forcibly displacing them now would deepen an already devastating pattern of destruction and suffering.

“For humanitarian agencies like ours, this decision cements an already impossible operating environment. Reports of plans to confine civilians in tightly controlled camps are profoundly alarming, evoking some of the darkest chapters of recent history. Should this lead to the evacuation of Gaza City, it would have catastrophic consequences for our ability to deliver aid, and for our staff, the vast majority of whom live and work there.

“Up to one million people are estimated to still be in Gaza City. Any attempt to forcibly remove them would constitute one of the largest and most dangerous evacuation to date, and would be utterly catastrophic.

“Every powerful nation must act, using every diplomatic, legal, and economic tool at its disposal, to stop this atrocity. History will not be kind to those who chose silence in the face of Gaza’s obliteration.”

Contact information

Spokespeople available. For more details, please contact:  [email protected]

Oxfam reaction to SOFI 2025 report

In reaction to the United Nations’ 2025 edition of “The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World” (SOFI) report launched today, showing only a slight progress in reducing hunger and warning that over half a billion people could be chronically hungry by 2030—nearly 60% of them in Africa — Emily Farr, Oxfam’s Food and Economic Security Lead, said:  

“We are witnessing the collapse of a moral contract. While some regions have seen some modest gains, the world is veering dangerously off track, leaving the poorest and more vulnerable behind.  As top donors, including the G7, push through a historic 28% cut to aid by 2026, 2.6 billion people —over a third of humanity —still cannot afford a healthy diet. These are not just statistics. These are lives unravelling and futures stolen. 

“This is not a crisis of scarcity — it is a crisis of inequality.  Climate chaos, conflict unchecked, and broken policies—driven by greed and impunity—are tearing apart global food systems and entrenching inequality. In 2024 alone, billionaires’ wealth soared by $2 trillion while poverty barely budged.  Since 2015, the world’s richest 1% have amassed $33.9 trillion — enough to end global poverty 22 times over. Yet hunger persists, not by accident, but by design. As fields flood and crops wither, aid is slashed, and a few corporate giants profit from the wreckage.  

Low-income countries are paying the highest price for a crisis they did not create. While global food price inflation peaked at 13.6 percent, it soared to 30 percent in the poorest economies— wiping out household budgets and access to food. In Africa, 1 in 5 people remain chronically hungry, with women and children hit hardest by deep cuts in nutrition programs. 

“We cannot afford a global food system built on injustice and indifference. Despite a modest improvement, we are nowhere the pace needed to meet global goals. The tide can still be turned, but only if governments act with urgency and unity: restore gutted aid, crack down on food profiteers, and invest in local farmers and local food systems that feed people, not profit margins.” 

Notes to editors

Contact information

Spokespeople available. For more details, please contact:  [email protected]

Six Months into Congo’s War, Cholera Is Killing More Than Four People Every Day

  • Aid cuts and humanitarian deadlock are fuelling a full-blown public health disaster.
  • In Sake and Minova, 500 people are sharing a single water tap.

Six months since the renewed war in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), a full-blown public health emergency is accelerating, Oxfam warned today.

Since January, more than 35,000 suspected cholera cases and at least 852 related deaths have been reported – an average of more than four deaths every day and a 62 percent increase compared to 2024.

After M23 fighters seized Goma in January civilians were ordered to return to their villages within 72 hours. More than 3.16 million people have since returned back only to find their homes reduced to rubble, and aid system on the verge of collapse.

Water networks, including storage facilities have been obliterated, leaving families to drink from contaminated streams and stagnant lakes. Basic health services have crumbled, with hospitals out of medicine and sanitation systems in ruins. In some of the hardest-hit areas, like Sake and Minova, 500 people are now sharing a single water tap.

Dr. Manenji Mangundu, Oxfam’s Director in DRC said:

“This is a full-blown public health emergency. Families are returning to ruins—no shelters, no toilets, no clean water. In many areas, latrines have been flooded or stripped for firewood, forcing people to defecate in the open and contaminate the only water available. The air reeks of sewage. Hospitals are out of medicine, and we can’t reach cut-off communities with even the most basic aid.”

In South Kivu’s Uvira region, cholera is surging with 100 new cases being reported each day. Floodwaters from Lake Tanganyika routinely inundate homes and latrines overflow into the lake, even as families are forced to drink lake water.

The forced closure and destruction of more than 20 displacement sites in Goma alone has left 700,000 people without safe shelter, clean water or basic sanitation In Rusayo, Lushagal, and Bhimba —where Oxfam had been supporting over 100,000 people—entire sites have been razed or abandoned, including more than $700,000 worth of water and sanitation infrastructure, such as pipelines, latrines, and tanks.

Despite a US-brokered ceasefire, insecurity, roadblocks, and ongoing clashes have severed vital supply routes, cutting off communities from lifesaving food, clean water, and medicine. Aid agencies like Oxfam are now being forced to detour through Rwanda, severely hampering relief efforts. Cross-border access through Burundi has been entirely blocked, while illegal taxes and bureaucratic obstruction are further choking humanitarian deliveries.

Deep aid cuts since the start of 2025 have pushed the humanitarian response to the brink of failure. Only a fraction of the $2.54 billion needed this year as humanitarian aid in DRC has been received to date—forcing agencies like Oxfam to scale back or suspend life-saving operations. Even a UN investigation into possible war crimes has been frozen for lack of funding.

“People are suffering because we cannot reach them,” said Balume Loutre, Oxfam’s Public Health Engineering Team Leader in Eastern DRC. “They’re drinking from contaminated water sources, and we lack the resources to deliver even basic aid. In some villages, 15,000 families need help, but we can only support 500. We’re forced to make impossible choices, leaving thousands behind.”

The situation is particularly alarming for women and girls. Since the cuts to USAID funding, more than 8,200 people living with HIV have lost access to antiretroviral treatment. Emergency post-rape care kits are vanishing, even as a child is reported raped every half an hour in eastern DRC, according to UNICEF.

Despite the collapse of the aid system, Oxfam and its partners continue to deliver lifesaving assistance – constructing water systems, building latrines and distributing soap and hygiene kits, food and seed. But urgent funding is needed to reach 400,000 people in high-risk cholera zones.

“We need an immediate injection of funds, and all warring parties to commit to a permanent ceasefire and allow aid to flow freely. After six months of chaos, people need dignity and respite from relentless violence. The world cannot look away,” said Mangundu.

Notes to editors

  • M23 fighters seized Goma in January, civilians were ordered to return to their villages in 72 hours, leaving at least 700,000 people hosted in 20 camps in Goma without shelter, food and water, according to the
  • 26 weeks into 2025, the DRC’s Ministry of Public Health and Hygiene and Social Welfare had registered 33,864 cases of cholera 757 deaths, to which 2,085 cases and 95 deaths were added in week 27.
  • The national death rate linked to cholera was 36% in 2024 while it was at 2.2%in early July 2025, a 62% increase.
  • According to OCHA, the humanitarian response needs for the year 2025 in DRC is $2.5 billion, but only $320 million has been received.
  • Info on UN investigation stalled due to funding based on Reuters.
  • According to OCHA-DRC’s there are 2.09 million returnees in North Kivu, 657.11k in South Kivu and 413.3k in Ituri.
  • UNICEF reported that children could account for 35% to 45% of nearly 10,000 cases of rape and sexual violence in January and February 2025 alone, which amounts to child raped every half an hour. The UN registered 67,000 incidences of rape in the last 5 months, approximately 450 cases/day, equivalent to a rape every half an hour.
  • Oxfam is currently providing water, food and protection having reached around 100,000 people in the most hit areas and aims to reach 400,000 people.

Contact information

Spokespeople available. For more details, please contact:  [email protected]