Israel’s top court allows aid groups facing Gaza ban to continue working

Israel's Supreme Court has ruled that dozens of international aid agencies can continue to operate in the Gaza Strip and other Palestinian territories, freezing an earlier government decision that barred aid groups that failed to comply with new rules. In a ruling on Friday, February 27, 2026, Israel's top court issued a temporary injunction to allow the NGOs to continue most of their activities while it considers a petition from 17 aid agencies against the government ban. This decision came after Israel had announced it would ban 37 aid groups from war-torn Gaza, the occupied West Bank, and occupied East Jerusalem on March 1, citing failure to follow new registration procedures. The organizations affected include prominent humanitarian agencies such as Doctors Without Borders (MSF), Oxfam, the Norwegian Refugee Council and CARE, which were notified by Israeli authorities in December that their Israeli work registrations had expired and that they had 60 days to renew them while providing lists containing personal details on their Palestinian staff. The aid agencies argue that compliance with these Israeli orders would expose their Palestinian staff to potential retaliation, undermine the principle of humanitarian neutrality and violate European data protection law. The Supreme Court's intervention provides a temporary reprieve, though the full legal battle continues. Despite the court's favorable ruling, humanitarian challenges persist in the region. Shaina Low, communication adviser for the Norwegian Refugee Council, noted that "the injunction pauses immediate closure. It does not restore visas, reopen access or resolve the wider restrictions that continue to affect aid delivery." She emphasized that "despite a ceasefire agreement, conditions in Gaza remain catastrophic, and humanitarian needs in the West Bank continue to grow." Meanwhile, Israeli military actions continued in Gaza, with at least six Palestinians killed in drone attacks targeting police posts in the Bureij refugee camp and the al-Mawasi area in Khan Younis on the same day as the court ruling, further complicating the humanitarian situation.