Israel has stopped issuing visas to international NGO workers: UNRWA chief

By Merve Berker

The Israeli government has stopped issuing visas to members of international non-governmental organizations (NGOs), the head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said on Tuesday.

“The Israeli Authorities have stopped giving visas to heads and staff of the international NGO community,” Philippe Lazzarini said on X.

“For years, these organizations have been providing humanitarian assistance to people in need in close partnership with the UN,” Lazzarini said.

He said: “Increasingly, the Government of Israel is phasing out representation from humanitarian organisations or those engaged in reporting on the atrocities of this war and the impact on civilians.”

“As humanitarian needs continue to increase we need more humanitarian workers not less,” he said, adding: “The opposite is now happening.”

“This comes on top of the ongoing entry ban of international media to report freely from inside Gaza, at a time when a number of senior UN officials are not given permission to visit Gaza and/or are prevented to travel to the West Bank including East Jerusalem,” he said.

“Humanitarian organisations and international media are prevented from doing their work properly. This has to end and restrictions must be lifted,” Lazzarini said.

“Let us do our work including at UNRWA,” he added.

Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Palestinian group Hamas.

The Israeli onslaught has displaced almost the entire population of the territory amid an ongoing blockade that has led to severe shortages of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel faces accusations of genocide for its actions in Gaza at the International Court of Justice.