SAVE THE CHILDREN CALLS FOR URGENT REVIEW OF NEW ISRAELI REGISTRATION RULES AFFECTING GAZA, WEST BANK

LONDON/GENEVA, 24 Dec 2025 -Save the Children is calling on the Government of Israel to urgently reconsider new registration rules for international non-governmental organisations (INGOs)  that could undermine the delivery of life-saving humanitarian assistance to children and their families in Gaza.

Save the Children is among the INGOs that have been denied re-registration by Israeli authorities to continue providing humanitarian aid to Palestinian communities from 1 January 2026. Without registration, INGOs will be unable to get approval for international staff with technical expertise – including in health, water, sanitation – or to bring essential aid supplies across the Israeli-controlled borders into Gaza or the West Bank at a time when needs have never been greater.  

Despite these restrictions, Save the Children will continue to deliver lifesaving services and multi-sector programming through our 300 Palestinian staff and trusted local partners in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt), where we are also registered with the Palestinian Authority. 

For more than two years, Gaza’s 1.1 million children have lived through an unimaginable humanitarian catastrophe through no fault of their own.

More than 20,000 children have been killed and thousands more missing, believed buried under rubble. Relentless bombardment has left much of Gaza in ruins, displacing nearly two million people now living in makeshift shelters and tents. Harsh winter conditions have added another layer of misery to the desperate situation with torrential rain and flooding destroying tents and leaving families wading through sewage-contaminated water, increasing the risk of disease. There have already been reports of babies dying of hypothermia in recent weeks – a stark reminder of the deadly consequences of blocking humanitarian aid. 

Children and their families desperately need warm clothing, shelter, blankets, food, medical supplies and hygiene materials. It is unconscionable to hinder humanitarian operations through a system that the UN has described as having vague and highly politicised criteria that imposes requirements humanitarian organisations cannot meet without violating international legal obligations or compromising core humanitarian principles. 

INGOs, working closely with the UN and Palestinian organisations, are central to humanitarian operations in the oPt, collectively delivering about US$1 billion in assistance each year. INGOs run or support the majority of field hospitals, primary healthcare centres, emergency shelter responses, water and sanitation services, nutrition stabilization centres for children with acute malnutrition, and critical mine action activities.

“In conflict zones, children are the ones who suffer the most and it is our role as humanitarians to be there for them. These new registration rules will have a serious impact on access to essential and basic services and put lives at imminent risk, particularly during winter,” said Ahmad Alhendawi, Save the Children’s Regional Director for the MENA and East Europe. 

“Save the Children is an independent, impartial aid organisation with a mission to support children and families everywhere at times of need.  While we continue calling on the Government of Israel to reverse its decision and allow registration and full access for INGOs, one thing should be made very clear: We have served Palestinian children for over seven decades and we will continue to do so.” 

Since the denial of our re-registration nearly two months ago, Save the Children has been using all avenues to challenge this in legal proceedings and continues to do so.

Since October 2023 Save the Children has supported 1.6 million people in Gaza, including 812,000 children, and 118,000 people in the West Bank, including 62,000 children. Save the Children is the third largest international provider of education in emergency services in the form of temporary learning spaces in Gaza and we are the largest INGO provider of cash and voucher assistance across the oPt.

We delivered 23,287 life-saving items in Gaza between October and December this year, including 960 newborn baby kits, 4,100 hygiene kits, and 6,000 female hygiene kits. In addition, 6 pallets of medical items were successfully delivered. We are also procuring supplies locally within Gaza to distribute.

In 2026, we will continue to deliver for children and their families in Gaza and the West Bank. We urge the international community to call on the Government of Israel not to impose this new registration system which represents another life-threatening blow to the people of Gaza.