TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israel’s top court on Friday moved to allow international aid groups to keep operating in the Gaza Strip and other Palestinian territories as Israeli strikes killed at least four people across the war-torn enclave.
The Supreme Court’s order, which followed a petition from 17 aid groups, effectively halted an earlier Israeli government decision that barred aid groups for refusing to comply with Israel’s new rules.
Israel had announced it will ban 37 aid groups by March 1 for not abiding by rules introduced last year that require aid groups to register names and contact information of employees, and provide details about their funding and operations. The groups view the rules as invasive and arbitrary, and say the ban would hinder critical assistance to people in war-ravaged Gaza.
Friday’s order grants a temporary injunction, leaving the current terms in place and not requiring aid groups to leave. The injunction will be in place until the court rules in the case. That timeline is not yet set.
“This is, however, a step in the right direction — with a long, long way still to go. We will keep fighting to be able to do our jobs, and deliver life saving assistance to Palestinians in need,” said Athena Rayburn, the executive director of AIDA, an umbrella organization representing over 100 groups operating in the Palestinian territories.
Lawyers representing the aid groups said the decision has given Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank some “breathing room”.
The petition by 17 aid groups had argued that the new Israeli rules violate international law, that Israel, as an occupying power, has the obligation to ensure food and medicine reach people. It also says Israel does not have the authority to shutter organizations in areas under the nominal control of the Palestinian Authority.
The vast majority of Gaza’s 2 million residents rely on aid groups for food, water, health care, shelter and other essentials after Israel’s two-year offensive destroyed much of the territory. Hundreds of thousands are living in tents, and reconstruction has yet to begin following a shaky ceasefire agreement reached in October.
Israeli airstrikes overnight killed at least four people, hospitals said Friday. Such strikes have repeatedly disrupted the U.S.-negotiated truce since it took effect on Oct. 10. The escalating Palestinian death toll has seen many in Gaza say the war is continuing unabated.
The strikes hit two police checkpoints, one in southern Gaza near Khan Younis and one in Bureij refugee camp. Israel’s army said Friday it killed several armed militants in the eastern part of the town of Rafah, on the border with Egypt. It said the strikes were in response to the violation of the ceasefire.
Meanwhile, in the occupied West Bank, the U.S. Embassy began offering consular services for the first time Friday at an Israeli settlement.
The move continues a shift in policy under U.S. President Donald Trump, whose administration has been far friendlier to Israeli settlements in the West Bank than past U.S. presidents.
People lined up to enter what appeared to be a gymnasium in the town of Efrat, where some 4,000 U.S. citizens live. Rows of tables lined the room with a sign on the wall that read: “US Embassy welcome to Efrat”.
The city’s mayor, Dovi Sheffler, expressed his excitement over having this service. “The United States says Efrat is part of Israel, Efrat is going to be forever here,” he said.
The U.S. Embassy has previously provided consular services in Ramallah and other Palestinian cities in the West Bank, where there are also Palestinian Americans.
More than 3.4 million Palestinians and 700,000 Israelis live in the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem, territories captured by Israel in 1967 and sought by Palestinians for a future state. The international community overwhelmingly considers Israeli settlement construction in these areas to be illegal and an obstacle to peace.
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Shurafa reported from Deir Al Balah, Gaza Strip.
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