JERUSALEM/RAMALLAH/ISTANBUL - Israel said Thursday that new regulations banning access of dozens of aid organizations to Gaza and the West Bank had come into force, despite calls by UN agencies and international humanitarian groups to halt the move.

Minister for Diaspora Affairs Amichai Chikli said organizations had been given 10 months to submit detailed information about their staff, with the deadline expiring at midnight on Wednesday. Groups that failed to meet the new requirements "had their licenses revoked today," he said, without specifying how many were affected.

An Israeli government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said a review by the Ministry for Diaspora Affairs identified 37 organizations that did not comply with the new regulations.

Israel says the rules are intended to bar organizations it alleges have supported militant activity from operating in the Palestinian territories.

The announcement came a day after senior officials from 19 UN humanitarian agencies and major international aid organizations urged Israel to reconsider the new measure, warning it could have "devastating" consequences.

"In Gaza in particular, as winter compounds families' suffering, as high acute food insecurity persists and as the need for life-saving aid is as critical as ever, banning NGOs risks undermining the fragile progress made during the ceasefire," they said in a joint statement.

International organizations collectively deliver close to $1 billion in assistance each year, according to the statement.

More than two years of Israeli assaults in Gaza have left the enclave in ruins, causing widespread hunger and malnutrition, and killing at least 71,269 people while injuring 171,232 others, according to Gaza-based health authorities.

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Israeli army fire

A Palestinian man was killed and another wounded by Israeli army fire on Thursday in the northern West Bank, according to Palestinian sources.

Khattab Daraghmeh, 26, was killed by Israeli army fire in the village of Al-Lubban ash-Sharqiya, south of Nablus, the Ramallah-based Palestinian Health Ministry said in a statement, providing no further details.

Local Palestinian sources said Daraghmeh and another young man were shot and wounded by Israeli soldiers at the village entrance along the main road connecting Ramallah and Nablus. Daraghmeh was later pronounced dead after he was taken to an Israeli hospital, and the other man is in stable condition at Salfit Hospital in the West Bank.

Meanwhile, Palestinian sources said Israeli forces raided the town of Jaba'a, south of Jenin, Beit Ummar, north of Hebron, and the villages of Aqaba and Tammun, south of Tubas, all in the West Bank on the first day of 2026.

The sources said the forces stormed homes, fired tear gas canisters, and detained dozens of Palestinians.

The Israeli army has not commented on these developments.

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Mass rally in Istanbul 

More than half a million people rallied in Türkiye's largest city Istanbul on New Year's Day to show solidarity with Gaza.

The demonstration was organized by the Humanity Alliance and the National Will Platform, a coalition of civil society groups, under the slogan "We will not retreat, we will not remain silent, we will not forget Palestine." Around 400 civil society organizations took part in the rally. According to police, the number of participants was estimated at about 520,000.

Bilal Erdogan, chair of the Board of Trustees of the Ilim Yayma Foundation, an educational and cultural foundation, told reporters that demonstrators welcomed the New Year with prayers for Palestine.

Participants initially gathered at several of the city's most historic mosques, including the Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque and the Sultanahmet Mosque, before marching through the streets and converging on the Galata Bridge spanning the Golden Horn.

A giant banner reading "Justice for Gaza" in both Turkish and English was displayed at the center of the bridge, alongside Turkish and Palestinian flags.

Some demonstrators also joined the rally from the sea, arriving by boats on the Bosphorus, where they lit flares and waved Palestinian flags.

The event also featured performances by internationally known artists and musicians.

Despite a ceasefire taking effect on Oct 10 after two years of war, Israel has continued attacks in Gaza, where health authorities say more than 400 Palestinians have been killed.