For the past year, Israel has refused to issue work visas to the staff of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) operating in the Palestinian territories. Employees leave the country when their authorized stay expires and are replaced by others who can only enter on a tourist visa, valid for three months only, which in theory prohibits them from working.

For some time, some of these employees played the system by leaving the country temporarily, only to re-enter a few days later, but this is no longer possible thanks to a new rule implemented by Israeli authorities in mid-September: it is no longer possible to have more than two tourist visas in less than six months.

Other humanitarian personnel have been granted multi-entry tourist visas valid for one year, though in much smaller numbers, and only thanks to discreet pressure exerted on Israel by a donor country. But they are also officially forbidden to work and cannot undertake certain legal formalities, such as buying a car or carrying out certain banking transactions.

"Who would come to work here on a tourist visa for three months? Not someone with a family. It's someone younger who's willing to take the risk. So we can't recruit the more experienced staff we need. And even if they do get in, they're working illegally on tourist visas", said Allegra Pacheco, head of the West Bank Protection Consortium, a partnership of five NGOs.

Humanitarians are put in a situation that is legally uncertain at best, if not illegal. And this is becoming untenable, according to all the employees Le Monde spoke with.

'These restrictions are no accident'

Restrictions are being imposed on several levels, starting with entry to the Palestinian territories, where all access points are controlled by Israel. Members of two large NGOs have been prohibited from entering. "It appears that entry has been denied to the members of organizations which have been the most openly critical of the human rights violations committed by Israel," said a source close to the humanitarian community.

The authorities appear to have tightened the screws in recent weeks. Since mid-September, according to a study by several NGOs, all humanitarian workers who tried to enter the West Bank from Jordan, via the Allenby Bridge, have been turned back by the Israeli authorities.

Restrictions also apply within the occupied territories. The Al-Jib checkpoint between Ramallah and Jerusalem, reserved for humanitarian aid workers and diplomats, used to allow rapid movement between the two cities, where many NGOs are based. But the crossing has been closed to many organizations.

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