Amel Association International: Threats Against Humanitarian Organizations in Gaza Are an Assault on International Law and the Last Bastion of Humanity

Call for Urgent International Action and the Formation of a Global Humanitarian and Legal Alliance to Protect Humanitarian Work

Amel Association International issued a statement strongly condemning Israeli threats to revoke the registration of humanitarian organizations and prevent them from operating in the Gaza Strip, considering these measures a deliberate and systematic attempt to undermine humanitarian response efforts and deprive civilians of their most basic rights, in flagrant violation of international humanitarian law. The Association expressed its full solidarity with all humanitarian organizations targeted by these actions.

The Association stressed that depriving people of humanitarian and medical assistance under any pretext or circumstance is ethically and legally unacceptable, underscoring that using humanitarian action as a political tool or a means of collective punishment constitutes a grave violation of the very principles upon which international law was established, foremost among them the protection of civilians and the unimpeded delivery of aid.

The statement added that the escalating attacks on independent humanitarian organizations not only threaten the continuity of medical, relief, and food programs, already severely limited in Gaza, but also strike at the very concept of humanitarian action itself. Such attacks open the door to the criminalization of humanitarian testimony and attempts to silence those who document and convey the reality on the ground, marked by killing, destruction, and serious violations.

Amel Association International noted that holding humanitarian organizations responsible for describing the catastrophic humanitarian reality, or leveling unfounded accusations against them instead of holding perpetrators accountable, represents a deliberate distortion of facts. The Association emphasized that legal and moral responsibility lies with those who carry out systematic violence and target civilians, infrastructure, and medical and humanitarian personnel.

The statement warned of the grave danger posed by the conditions and procedures imposed on the registration of organizations, particularly those that compromise the security and privacy of humanitarian workers and turn humanitarian access into a tool of coercion, at a time when medical and humanitarian personnel are subjected to killing, intimidation, and arbitrary detention. The Association considered these practices a blatant violation that undermines the independence and core principles of humanitarian work.

In this context, Amel Association International affirmed that what is unfolding cannot be separated from a broader and dangerous international trajectory aimed at marginalizing the role of the United Nations and undermining the international justice system, thereby threatening the rules-based international order and entrenching impunity and the rule of force over rights.

The Association called for urgent international action and for the establishment of a global humanitarian and legal alliance to defend international humanitarian law, protect humanitarian action from politicization and criminalization, and prevent the hollowing out of international institutions of their roles, as they represent the last framework governing relations between states and setting limits to violations.

In closing, Amel Association International reaffirmed that allowing the entry of humanitarian assistance is neither a favor nor a concession, but a non-derogable legal obligation. Gaza today needs an expansion, not a reduction, of humanitarian support programs, and the protection of what remains of the means of life, not further siege. The Association emphasized that it will remain, faithful to its mission and the values of its founders, alongside human dignity and the right to life and justice, no matter how intense the repression or how persistent the attempts to silence the humanitarian voice.