Joint statement by High Representative Kallas and Commissioners Lahbib and Šuica on the registration of international NGOs in Palestine

The humanitarian situation in Gaza continues to worsen.

As winter sets in, Palestinians are left exposed to heavy rain and falling temperatures, without safe shelter. Children remain out of schools. Medical facilities are barely functioning, with minimal staff and equipment.

In its conclusions of December 18, the European Council welcomed the adoption of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 2803 on the establishment of the Board of Peace and of a temporary International Stabilisation Force, as outlined in the Comprehensive Plan to End the Gaza Conflict. The European Council called on all parties to implement the Resolution in its entirety, and in line with relevant international legal principles, and committed to contributing to implementation.

Moreover, the European Council stressed the need for the rapid, safe and unimpeded delivery and sustained distribution of humanitarian aid, at scale, into and throughout Gaza. Consequently, it called on Israel not to implement the non-govermental organisations (NGOs) registration law in its current form.

We call on Israel to allow international NGOs to operate and deliver life-saving aid to civilians in need in Palestine.

Without these international NGOs, humanitarian aid cannot be delivered at the scale needed to prevent further loss of life in Gaza.

To deliver aid rapidly, safely and at the scale required, international NGOs must be able to operate in a sustained and predictable way. Without them, life-saving assistance cannot reach people in need.

Humanitarian aid delivery and service provision for civilians depends on access. Under International Humanitarian Law, all parties to a conflict must allow and facilitate the rapid and unimpeded passage of principled humanitarian relief.