Canada, other countries call on Israel to ensure aid groups can work in Gaza

Canada and other countries are calling on Israel to boost the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza as the country reportedly moves to suspend more than two dozen humanitarian organizations.

The Associated Press reports a Canadian non-profit, Oxfam Quebec, is on a list of 37 organizations set to be barred from Gaza by Israel as of Jan. 1 for failing to comply with new vetting rules for international organizations working in the enclave.

Clémence Grevey, a spokesperson for Global Affairs Canada, said in an email Tuesday evening that the department "does not have any information on the status of Oxfam-Quebec at this time."

The Associated Press reports that other organizations on the list include Doctors Without Borders, Action Against Hunger and Oxfam Novib.

COGAT, the Israeli defence ministry unit that oversees humanitarian aid in Gaza, says the organizations on the list account for less than one per cent of the total aid going into the Gaza Strip.

In a joint statement, the foreign ministers of Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Iceland, Japan, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom call on Israel to ensure that international NGOs are able to operate in Gaza in a "sustained and predictable way."

The ministers say deregistration of international non-governmental organizations, or INGOs, could force the closure of aid operations in Gaza and the West Bank within 60 days, causing a "severe" impact on access to essential services, including health care.

"One in three health care facilities in Gaza will close if INGO operations are stopped. INGOs are integral to the humanitarian response and, working with the UN and Palestinian organizations, collectively deliver approximately $1 billion in aid across Palestine each year," says the statement released Tuesday.

"Any attempt to stem their ability to operate is unacceptable. Without them, it will be impossible to meet all urgent needs at the scale required."

In their statement, the ministers also call on Israel to ensure the United Nations and its partners can continue their vital work, to lift unreasonable restrictions on imports and to open crossings and boost the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza.

"While the amount of aid going into Gaza has increased since the ceasefire, the response remains severely constrained by persistent impediments on humanitarian access," the statement says.

Ahmed Ramadan, government relations officer at Justice for All Canada, says Israel’s new rules "violate humanitarian principles of neutrality and independence."

Justice for All Canada was part of a Canadian delegation that was denied entry to the West Bank earlier this month. It is calling on Ottawa to tighten sanctions targeting new Israeli settlements in occupied territory.

Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a social media post that "the joint statement issued by the group of countries led by the UK regarding Gaza is false but unsurprising."

"It reflects a recurring pattern of detached criticism and one-sided demands on Israel, while deliberately ignoring the essential requirement of disarming Hamas - a prerequisite for the security of Israel and the region," the statement read. 

The social media post said the statement "blatantly ignores the significant improvement in the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip since the ceasefire came into effect, an improvement achieved through Israel’s extensive efforts, together with the United States, and despite Hamas’s relentless attempts to divert humanitarian aid for terrorist purposes at the expense of the civilian population."

"As Israel and the United States work closely to advance President Trump’s plan, focused on dismantling Hamas and restoring stability, these countries choose to criticize from the sidelines. Israel will continue to act decisively alongside the United States and President Trump," the statement read.

Picture Courtesy: AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana