As Israel’s blockade claims lives across the Gaza Strip, the country has refused to renew visas and work permits for relief workers providing essential services to the besieged enclave, it was revealed on Sunday.
The policy extends to directors and managers of organizations as well as low level aid workers, according to Faris Arouri of the Association of International Development Agencies. Among the groups targeted are well known and respected organizations like Oxfam, Amnesty International, Action Against Hunger, Catholic Relief Services and Care International.
“It’s creating a huge bottleneck for organizations,” said Arouri. “More than 60% of expatriate humanitarian workers have had their visas expire in the past few weeks because, as of October 7, the Israeli authorities stopped issuing work visas.”
Israel’s Welfare Ministry, the government department responsible for issuing the visas and permits, has claimed the ministry is unable to process a backlog of requests. But Israel has frequently accused relief organizations, whose employees witness the consequences of Israel’s occupation firsthand, of harboring anti-Israel views.
Israel has long criticized the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), which it sees as perpetuating Palestinians’ identification as refugees. The vendetta was noted in a recent report by the US National Intelligence Council, which described how the Israeli government sees UNRWA as an impediment to their desired final solution. The report found no evidence for Israel’s claims that a handful of UNRWA workers participated in Hamas’ October 7 attack in Israel.
Meanwhile, Palestinians in the Gaza Strip have begun to succumb to famine as Israel imposes a tight blockade on the enclave. A two-month-old Palestinian boy died of starvation over the weekend, according to Al Jazeera. Over half a million Gazans soon face death from hunger if current conditions continue, observers have warned.