Despite the agreements signed in recent weeks, the situation in Gaza remains extremely dramatic. The lives of the population are still hanging by a thread due to the limited entry of humanitarian aid. While it is true that since the date of the agreements, aid shipments provided by the United Nations have been allowed in, this is not the case for those managed by NGOs, which are still waiting at the crossings.
For this reason, 41 organisations belonging to AIDA – Association of International Development NGOs, operating in the field in Gaza, have signed a joint statement calling on the Israeli government to honour the commitments made in the ceasefire agreement, in accordance with international law and the free flow of humanitarian aid.
The statement reports that: ‘Between 10 and 21 October 2025, 17 international NGOs were denied entry into Gaza with urgent aid shipments, including water, food, tents and medical supplies. Ninety-four per cent of all refusals by the Israeli authorities concerned international NGOs.’
The organisations that requested access with their aid shipments are duly registered, well-known and recognised actors that have been operating in Gaza for a long time, as the statement reports: ‘Three-quarters of these refusals were motivated by the fact that the organisations are “not authorised” to provide humanitarian aid in Gaza. This includes agencies that continue to have long-standing INGO registration with the Palestinian and Israeli authorities and are legally authorised to operate by the latter while new registration procedures are underway. These humanitarian organisations are not new or untested actors. They are reliable agencies that have been operating in Gaza for decades.’
Humanitarian work is further hampered by a new restrictive registration procedure imposed on humanitarian organisations.
Aid and humanitarian personnel are ready, but unable to access the Strip: ‘Between 10 and 21 October, 99 requests from international NGOs to deliver aid to Gaza were rejected, while six requests submitted by UN agencies were denied. The aid denied by the Israeli authorities includes tents and tarpaulins, blankets, mattresses, food and nutritional items, hygiene kits, medical supplies, assistive devices and children’s clothing, all of which should be accessible without restriction during the ceasefire.’
The announcement of the ceasefire has raised everyone’s hopes for an end to the suffering of the Palestinian people, but if the agreements are not respected, the situation risks deteriorating rapidly and bringing only further pain and death due to the critical conditions of the vast majority of the population of Gaza, where, it should be remembered, a famine is underway, which has already killed hundreds of people.
‘After more than two years of relentless and continuous bombing – with dozens of deaths in the last week alone – and the resulting deprivation, forced displacement and hunger, blocking humanitarian access and supplies undermines the collective effort to save lives,’ the NGOs said.
Winter is approaching and Palestinians are still living in extremely fragile and risky conditions in makeshift shelters, without insulation, heating, clean water or sanitation. The failure to allow aid to enter once again puts the lives of hundreds of thousands of civilians at risk and prevents humanitarian organisations from doing their work.
‘The restrictions are depriving Palestinians of life-saving aid and undermining the coordination of the response system in Gaza, which relies on collaboration between local organisations, national institutions, UN agencies and international NGOs.’
Read the full statement and signatories here.