Israel’s decision to suspend the visa renewal process for international aid workers in the Gaza Strip and occupied West Bank is hampering humanitarian work at a time when it is needed most, a coalition of humanitarian and nongovernmental groups says.
Israel’s Welfare Ministry has halted the visa renewal process since early February, claiming it does not have the means to investigate aid workers’ possible affiliations with militia groups.
The visas of at least 99 aid workers have expired or will expire in the next six months, according to Faris Arouri, director of the coalition. Those facing imminent expulsion orders have left the area, while others remain in Israel without proper documentation, he said Wednesday.
The suspension of the visas comes after Israel this week stepped up its criticism of the embattled U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, claiming that 450 of its employees were members of militia groups in the Gaza Strip. Israel provided no evidence to back up its accusation.
Major international funders have withheld hundreds of millions of dollars meant for the agency, known as UNRWA, since Israel accused 12 of its employees of involvement in the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks on Israel, in which 1,200 people were killed and another 250 taken hostage in Gaza, according to Israeli officials.
The coalition, called the Association of International Development Agencies (AIDA), says its members have played a key role and are desperately needed after more than five months of war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.
The population is starving in the northern Gaza Strip, while more than a million people have fled to the south of the territory.