The State of Israel’s Ministry of Diaspora Affairs announced it is banning 37 humanitarian organizations, including Caritas Internationalis and Caritas Jerusalem, from operating in Gaza, effective March 1. Caritas Internationalis is the Church’s confederation of relief and development agencies.
“The organizations’ licenses have been revoked as of Jan. 1 for failing to meet new and more strict security and transparency standards regarding their Palestinian and international employees,” OSV News reported.
Farid Jubran, spokesman for Caritas Jerusalem, said that “Caritas Jerusalem will continue its humanitarian and development operations in Gaza, the West Bank, and Jerusalem, in accordance with its mandate.”
Jubran noted that “in Israel, Caritas Jerusalem is an Ecclesiastical Legal Person, whose status and mission have been recognized by the State of Israel through the 1993 Fundamental Agreement and the subsequent 1997 Legal Personality Agreement signed between the Holy See and the State of Israel.”