Oxfam-Québec surprised to be among aid groups Israel bars from Gaza

The Quebec branch of the global humanitarian aid organization Oxfam says it was surprised to learn this week that it figures among the dozens of aid groups Israel will soon bar from working in Gaza.

Israel intends to bar nearly 40 organizations supplying aid in Gaza as of Jan. 1 for failing to comply with stricter registration rules announced in March — including that they provide a complete list of their employees for review.

According to The Associated Press, the groups include Doctors Without Borders and several regional branches of Oxfam, including Oxfam-Québec.

“As a particularly harsh winter hits Palestine, we reiterate that unimpeded and needs-based access to humanitarian aid is part of the ceasefire agreement and is urgently needed,” Oxfam-Québec general director Béatrice Vaugrante said in a statement Wednesday.

The organization added that it believes it has been included in the list due to an older registration, dating back to 2020, which is no longer valid since Oxfam is now legally represented by one single registered entity in the region.

The Israeli government has said the decision to enforce stricter registration requirements is part of an effort to prevent Hamas militants from infiltrating aid groups to “further their terror activity.”

The Canadian federal government and others have already spoken out against the move.

In a joint statement issued Tuesday, the foreign ministers of Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Iceland, Japan, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom called on Israel to ensure the organizations are able to operate in Gaza in a “sustained and predictable way.”

The ministers said their deregistration could force the closure of aid operations in Gaza and the West Bank within 60 days, causing a “severe” impact on access to essential services, including health care.

“Any attempt to stem their ability to operate is unacceptable,” the statement said. “Without them, it will be impossible to meet all urgent needs at the scale required.”

In an interview Wednesday, Sana Bég, the executive director of Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières Canada (MSF), said the organization had yet to receive confirmation that its registration was being revoked.

Bég said the organization has been in discussion with the Israeli government for months over its registration and is trying to comply with the new requirements.

However, she said, it refuses to provide a full staff list, as doing so would violate international humanitarian law and could put employees at risk.

If the organization does lose its access, Bég said it will have devastating effects.

“Let’s not call it deregistration, let’s call it a death sentence — that is exactly what it would be for the Palestinian people,” Bég said.

Bég said that in the last year alone, MSF has carried out 800,000 outpatient consultations and cared for more than 100,000 trauma patients in the region. Furthermore, it’s helped deliver one third of all newborn babies.

“The Palestinian people need more aid, not less,” she said. “If organizations like MSF, and other international aid organizations lose access, this would be a disaster for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians.”

Contacted on Wednesday, a spokesperson for the Israeli Consulate General in Montreal said organizations have been given 10 months to comply and several were granted extensions.

The spokesperson said only one per cent of humanitarian measures are affected by the change and applications will continue to be reviewed and processed.

“The registration requirement is aimed at preventing the involvement of terrorist elements and at safeguarding the integrity of humanitarian activity, as demonstrated in past cases,” they added.

The office also pointed to several statements from the Israeli agency responsible for managing the entry of aid into Gaza that alleged some humanitarian groups have exaggerated their role in the region.

The agency said 4,200 aid trucks will continue to enter Gaza each week via the United Nations, donor countries, and other international organizations.

With files from The Canadian Press.

jfeith@postmedia.com

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