JERUSALEM, Feb 27 (Reuters) – Israel’s Supreme Court on Friday temporarily blocked the government from shuttering the Gaza operations of dozens of aid organizations which petitioned the court in a dispute over new Israeli rules requiring them to name Palestinian staff.
* Israel in December ordered 37 international organisationsincluding medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres and theNorwegian Refugee Council to halt work in Gaza and the occupiedWest Bank within 60 days unless they agreed to the new rules. * Some 17 NGOs and the Association of InternationalDevelopment Agencies (AIDA) sought an urgent suspension of thedecision in a petition to the Israeli High Court of Justice onSunday, warning of devastating humanitarian consequences. * Israel’s Supreme Court issued a temporary injunction thatwould allow the NGOs to continue most of their activities whileit considers their petition. * The aid groups say sharing staff information could pose asafety risk given that hundreds of aid workers have been killedor injured during the war in Gaza. Israel has said theregistrations were meant to prevent diversions of aid byPalestinian armed groups. Aid agencies dispute that substantialaid has been diverted. * Athena Rayburn, AIDA’s executive director, said they were”still waiting to see how the injunction will be interpreted bythe state and whether or not this will mean an increase in ourability to operate,” adding that the situation inside Gazaremained “catastrophic”. * Spokespeople for Israel’s government did not immediatelyrespond to requests for comment.
(Reporting by Rami Ayyub in Jerusalem and Olivia Le Poidevin in Geneva; editing by Philippa Fletcher)
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