A coalition of 37 international aid organisations has launched a legal challenge in Israel’s High Court, seeking to prevent their expulsion from Gaza and the West Bank. The groups are contesting new registration rules set to be enforced from March 2025, which they contend would compel them to cease vital humanitarian operations in the occupied Palestinian territories.
The new regulations demand that international non-governmental organisations (INGOs) submit full lists of all staff, along with sensitive personal information about their families, as part of the registration process. , the rules introduce grounds for deregistration, including activities deemed to ‘delegitimise Israel’, expressing support for action against Israel for violations of international law, or public backing for a boycott of Israel within the past seven years by staff or board members.
Organisations affected by these measures include Medical Aid for Palestinians, Oxfam, Christian Aid, and Refugees International. These groups argue that the requirement to transfer personal data poses significant security and legal risks for their national staff. They maintain that such demands undermine established data protection and confidentiality safeguards, making compliance ethically and legally impossible.
Medical Aid for Palestinians, one of the prominent organisations involved in the challenge, has garnered support from leading Scottish political figures. First Minister John Swinney and Stephen Flynn are among those who have publicly backed the group’s efforts.
The petition lodged with the High Court seeks an urgent interim injunction. This legal move aims to suspend the expiry of the organisations’ current registrations and prevent further enforcement of the new rules, pending a full judicial review. The petitioners argue that these administrative measures represent an attempt to curtail established humanitarian operations.
The territories, which are illegally occupied by Israel, are subject to its control over the movement of people and goods. Under the Fourth Geneva Convention, an occupying power holds an obligation to facilitate relief for civilians residing under its control. The aid organisations assert that the new rules are incompatible with these international humanitarian law obligations.
The organisations received formal notification on 30 December 2025, informing them that their Israeli registrations would expire the following day. They were subsequently given 60 days to wind down their activities in Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. The notification letter indicated that the decision could only be overturned if the organisations completed the full, new registration process, which they have stated they cannot legally or ethically comply with.
Yotam Ben-Hillel, an Israeli immigration lawyer representing the petitioning organisations, provided insight into the historical context of registration. He noted:
For many years humanitarian organisations operating in Palestine and Israel were registered with the ministry of social affairs. The process was fairly straightforward, once an organisation was registered we could start operating but in practice it hasn’t registered new organisations for almost 10 years. When the war started it used that as an excuse to stop issuing recommendation letters for workers to enter the West Bank and Gaza, since October 2023 international workers cannot enter Israel as workers and those workers who used to be here had to leave because their visas expired.
The lawyer’s comments highlight a longstanding challenge in the region, exacerbated by recent events. The inability of international workers to enter and the lack of new registrations have already impacted humanitarian efforts. The current legal challenge aims to safeguard the ability of these organisations to continue their critical work in providing aid to vulnerable populations.
The outcome of this High Court petition could have significant implications for the delivery of humanitarian assistance across the occupied Palestinian territories, impacting countless individuals reliant on these services. The Scottish Parliament regularly discusses international humanitarian issues, reflecting Scotland’s engagement with global affairs. Further information on international humanitarian law can be found through organisations like the International Committee of the Red Cross.
