MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
Today, Israel announced it is banning dozens of aid groups from operating in Gaza. That includes Doctors Without Borders, which provides critical support to hospitals devastated by more than two years of war. The move is sparking warnings in the aid community that the humanitarian situation in Gaza will only get worse - that, despite a ceasefire brokered by President Trump more than two months ago. Michele Kelemen is in Tel Aviv following all these developments. Hey, Michele.
MICHELE KELEMEN, BYLINE: Hi, Mary Louise.
KELLY: Let's start with why. Why has Israel decided to ban these groups?
KELEMEN: So the Israelis say that these groups did not comply with their new registration requirements. You know, they've long blamed Hamas of stealing aid in Gaza, and they say the new rules were meant to prevent Hamas from exploiting the situation. So aid groups, under these new rules, had to report all of their staff to Israel, and Israel could disqualify organizations that have called for boycotts against Israel, those who have expressed support for international court cases against Israeli leaders and soldiers.
And Israel's Ministry of Diaspora Affairs decided that more than 30 groups would be suspended starting in the new year, both in Gaza and in the West Bank. And that includes some major aid groups like CARE, Mercy Corps, the International Rescue Committee and Doctors Without Borders, as you mentioned.
KELLY: Yeah. And tell me what kind of reaction you were hearing from the aid groups to this ban.
KELEMEN: So Doctors Without Borders says this move could leave hundreds of thousands of people in Gaza without lifesaving health care. And one of the reasons they've been reluctant to comply with the registration rules is, you know, for fear of security for their staff on the ground. They fear that they could be targeted. Doctors Without Borders has lost at least 15 workers there during the war. They also say that Israel wants to stop aid workers from describing the terrible conditions in Gaza, where no foreign journalists have been allowed to operate independently since the start of this war.
And I asked the State Department about all this, Mary Louise, and I was told that the U.S. has been talking with the Israeli government, the U.N. and private aid groups, and will continue to try to work on this to meet the humanitarian needs of the people in Gaza.
KELLY: Well, and it's all just so interesting because part of President Trump's whole ceasefire plan was supposed to be getting more aid into Gaza, not less. How will this move affect that?
KELEMEN: Israeli officials say it shouldn't matter much that these groups brought in less than 1% of the food that's come in during the ceasefire. But aid groups point out that Israel has mostly allowed in commercial goods. And while that is helpful, most Gazans just can't afford to buy anything. NPR's Anas Baba spoke to a professor at the University of Gaza, Mowafaq al Kafarneh, who says that things remain really dire.
MOWAFAQ AL KAFARNEH: (Through interpreter) The conditions are very harsh, especially in winter. We seem to be living in the Stone Age. We lack everything - food, water, clothes, blankets and tents.
KELEMEN: He also said that no one in Gaza really believes this war is over. They fear that things can resume any day. And that was the sense that our reporter there was getting from many people he spoke with in recent days. The weather there has been really cold and rainy. There's a lot of pessimism, including in the wake of the latest meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Trump in Mar-a-Lago on Monday.
KELLY: All right. So catch us up - big picture - with where things stand with Trump's peace plan.
KELEMEN: Kind of stuck in the first phase. Israel has set up what it calls a yellow line. It controls one side of it, a large part of Gaza, and it continues to strike across that yellow line. And Trump seems fine with all of that, saying he thinks the Israelis are following his plan and it's Hamas that needs to keep its end to the bargain and disarm.
KELLY: NPR's Michele Kelemen reporting from Israel today. Thanks, Michele.
KELEMEN: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
