The suspension begins Jan. 1. International organizations have said Israel's rules are arbitrary and could endanger staff. Israel has accused militant groups of operating under the cover of international organizations,

Several countries at the United Nations questioned whether the move aimed to relocate Palestinians from Gaza or to establish military bases.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Florida on Monday morning ahead of his meeting with President Donald Trump. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet with U.S. President Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida on Monday.

Arab and Muslim states fear the move reflects a new assertiveness by Netanyahu to meddle in regional affairs in the wake of Hamas’s October 7 2023 attack on Israel — and that it will give Israel a strategic foothold in the Gulf of Aden, which borders the Red Sea and Arabian Peninsula.

The legislation was the latest blow to the agency, known as UNRWA. Israel has accused it of being extensively infiltrated by Hamas.

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Tens of thousands of Somalis gathered across the country Tuesday to protest Israel’s recognition of the breakaway region of Somaliland, a move condemned by more than 20 countries as an attack on the East African nation’s sovereignty.

Critics condemn the vague new requirements as arbitrary hurdles that endanger staff, dismissing Israel’s claims of regulatory non-compliance.

When Israel and Hamas signed a ceasefire earlier this year, it brought into question the fate of militias Israel cultivated during the devastating two-year war as an alternative ruling force in Gaza. Many expected that Hamas — still the dominant force in the Strip — would hunt them down.