Israel's Supreme Court ruled on Friday that dozens of international aid agencies can continue operating in the Gaza Strip and other Palestinian territories, issuing a temporary injunction that freezes an earlier government decision to ban organizations failing to comply with new rules.

The court's interim order allows the NGOs to maintain most activities while it considers a petition from 17 aid agencies against the government ban. Israel had announced it would ban 37 aid groups from war-torn Gaza, the occupied West Bank, and occupied East Jerusalem starting March 1.

Aid agencies including Doctors Without Borders (MSF), Oxfam, the Norwegian Refugee Council, and CARE were notified by Israeli authorities in December that their Israeli work registrations had expired and they had 60 days to renew them and provide lists with personal details of Palestinian staff.

The organizations argue that complying with Israeli orders would expose their Palestinian staff to potential retaliation, undermine humanitarian neutrality principles, and violate European data protection laws.

In a statement following Friday's ruling, Shaina Low, communications adviser for the Norwegian Refugee Council, welcomed the decision but highlighted ongoing difficulties in Gaza: "The injunction pauses immediate closure. It does not restore visas, reopen access, or resolve the wider restrictions that continue to affect aid delivery."

In Gaza, at least six Palestinians were killed in Israeli drone strikes targeting two police posts in the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza and the al-Mawasi area in Khan Younis in the south on Friday. Medical sources at Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis reported receiving four bodies and several wounded individuals.

Hamas condemned the attacks, saying they undermine mediator efforts during a "ceasefire" phase that Israel has violated almost daily since October 10.

Source: www.aljazeera.com