Israel’s High Court has rejected a petition filed by international aid organizations operating in Palestine and gave them one month to submit employee lists to the government or cease operations, according to an Israeli government statement on Wednesday.

The government said the petition was filed by AIDA, an umbrella group representing 19 international nongovernmental relief organizations working in the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank.

According to the statement, the petition came after the organizations refused to provide Israel with lists of their local employees “as required under NGO registration and security screening procedures.”

Dozens of international aid groups have opposed new Israeli requirements that include submitting names of local staff members, identifying aid beneficiaries, and refraining from criticizing Israel as conditions for continuing operations in the occupied West Bank and Gaza.

The government said a panel of the High Court headed by Chief Justice Yitzhak Amit rejected the petition and granted the organizations a final 30-day deadline to submit the required documents.

The court considered the government’s requirements to obtain information on local employees, including Palestinians, to be a “legitimate security measure.”

According to the statement, applications submitted by compliant organizations will be reviewed under registration procedures, while organizations that fail to provide the required documents will be forced to immediately cease operations in the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank.

In a joint statement issued in January, 53 international organizations warned of serious humanitarian consequences resulting from Israeli measures to revoke the licenses of dozens of humanitarian groups operating in the Palestinian territories.

The organizations, including Amnesty International, Doctors Without Borders, and Oxfam, warned that the Israeli measures would seriously obstruct humanitarian work and threaten to halt relief operations amid severe humanitarian needs despite the ongoing ceasefire in Gaza.

*Writing by Rania Abushamala in Istanbul. (AA)

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