Israel will revoke the licenses of 37 aid organisations from operating in Gaza and the West Bank, stating the groups have failed to meet the requirements under new registration rules.

ActionAid, International Rescue Committee, Médecins Sans Frontières and Norwegian Refugee Council are among the aid agencies which will have their licences suspended on 1 January - with their operations coming to an end within 60 days.

Israel said they had failed to hand over complete personal details of their Palestinian and international staff.

The announcement by the Ministry of Diaspora Affairs comes as fierce storms have destroyed thousands of tents in Gaza.

The move was condemned by 10 countries, which said the rules would have a severe impact on access to essential services in Gaza.

Ministers from the UK, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Iceland, Japan, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland have also called for the opening of crossings to increase the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza.

In a report released by the UK’s Foreign Office it said that “1.3 million people still require urgent support. More than half of health facilities are only partially functional and face shortages of essential medical equipment and supplies”.

The European Union’s humanitarian chief has said Israel is “blocking life-saving aid” from reaching Gaza, while the UN’s human rights chief has said this makes “an already intolerable situation even worse”.

Israel says items have been blocked from entering Gaza on the basis that they may be used by Hamas to rebuild tunnels or for military purposes.

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