UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres called on Israel to reverse its decision to bar dozens of aid groups, 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.
Guterres “calls for this measure to be reversed, stressing that international non-governmental organizations are indispensable to life-saving humanitarian work and that the suspension risks undermining the fragile progress made during the ceasefire,” said his spokesman, Stéphane Dujarric.
Israel made its decision after the organizations “refused to share lists of their Palestinian employees with government officials,” Agence France-Presse reported.