Since the October 7 Hamas attacks, employees of UN agencies and numerous international NGOs based in Jerusalem have encountered difficulties in issuing temporary visas and renewing existing ones.
Amid the biggest crisis in the region in decades, Israel has also changed its policy towards organizations of the UN system. As a general rule, UN Staff have to renew their visas every two months, VisaGuide.World reports.
Over 50 Aid Workers Had to Leave Gaza After Their Visas Expired
Since the beginning of the war, the acting director of the coalition of 80 humanitarian organizations (AIDA), Joseph Kelly, estimates that around 50 humanitarian workers have had to leave the country.
According to the latest situational survey conducted by AIDA, when their visas expired, about 15 aid workers worked remotely, sometimes from other regional headquarters, such as Cairo or Amman. Furthermore, Kelly explained such obstacles as “a mixture of political decisions and administrative negligence”.
Association of International Development Agencies (AIDA) director Faris Arouri revealed that in early March 2024, 57 aid worker visas had expired since the outbreak of war on October 7, while another 42 “will expire in the coming weeks”.
He also pointed out that at least 50 requests for new visas — for staff accelerating the response to worsening humanitarian conditions in Gaza and the West Bank — have yet to go anywhere.
The insecurity situation has affected hundreds of (mostly Western) employees of about 150 international NGOs working in the Palestinian territories of Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
As a result, a total of 195 Palestinian workers from the West Bank have not received permission to enter Jerusalem. In another case, emergency technicians from organizations with permits to enter Gaza are entering through Jordan and going directly to the Gaza Strip. At the same time, their colleagues without valid Israeli visas have no guarantee that they will be able to return from Gaza.
Israel Denies Visa to Highest Official in Jerusalem Amid Escalated Situation
In December 2023, the UN humanitarian coordinator for the Palestinian territories, Lynn Hastings, had to leave Israel. Through a post on X during that time, the Israeli Foreign Minister, Eli Cohen, declared that he had “revoked” the residence visa of the UN’s second-highest official in Jerusalem.
Meanwhile, Cohen argued that Hastings had not condemned Hamas at the time of the October 7, 2023, massacre but had condemned Israel instead. Until recently, visas for UN officials were extended for six months or a year as part of a routine procedure. But since October 2023, this has lasted from ten days to two months, or even more.