Israel to terminate Doctors Without Borders work in Gaza for failing to provide Palestinian staff list
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A Palestinian boy walks past the clinic of Doctors Without Borders or Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), in the al-Rimal neighbourhood of Gaza City.
PHOTO: AFP
JERUSALEM - Israel announced on Feb 1 it was terminating Doctors Without Borders’ humanitarian operations in Gaza after the charity failed to provide a list of Palestinian staff, a move that the organisation, also known as Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said was a “pretext” to obstruct aid to the war-devastated territory.
In December, Israel announced it would prevent 37 aid organisations, including MSF
“The Ministry of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism is moving to terminate the activities of Medecins Sans Frontieres in the Gaza Strip,” the ministry said on Feb 1.
The decision follows “MSF’s failure to submit lists of local employees, a requirement applicable to all humanitarian organisations operating in the region”, it added.
The ministry had earlier alleged that two MSF employees had links with Palestinian militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad, which the charity has vehemently denied.
On Feb 1, the ministry said MSF had committed in early January to sharing the staff list, but ultimately refrained.
“Subsequently, MSF announced it does not intend to proceed with the registration process at all, contradicting its previous statements and the binding protocol,” the ministry added, saying “MSF will cease its operations and depart the Gaza Strip by February 28“.
No assurances
MSF said it had tried for months to engage with Israeli authorities over the issue, but its attempts were unsuccessful.
MSF charged that the ministry’s move was a “pretext to obstruct humanitarian assistance” to Gaza.
“Israeli authorities are forcing humanitarian organisations into an impossible choice between exposing staff to risk or interrupting critical medical care for people in desperate need,” it said in a statement issued on Feb 1.
“MSF did not hand over staff names because Israeli authorities failed to provide the concrete assurances required to guarantee our staff’s safety, protect their personal data, and uphold the independence of our medical operation,” it said.
Such demands by Israel will force aid organisations to pull out when “needs are overwhelming and health services are collapsing” in Gaza, it said.
“At a moment when more humanitarian assistance is urgently needed, it is being restricted rather than facilitated,” the charity said, adding that it remained open for dialogue with Israeli authorities to maintain its services in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.
MSF says 15 of its employees have been killed over the course of the Gaza war.
Minister of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism Amichai Chikli said the organisation had “abruptly changed” its position.
“It appears the organisation’s employees do not meet the established criteria,” Mr Chikli said.
Care at risk
MSF has long been a key provider of medical and humanitarian aid in Gaza, particularly since the war broke out in October 2023 after Hamas’s attack on Israel.
The charity says it currently provides at least 20 per cent of hospital beds in the territory and operates around 20 health centres.
In 2025 alone, it carried out more than 800,000 medical consultations and more than 10,000 infant deliveries, and it also provides drinking water.
Aid groups warn that without international support provided by organisations such as MSF, critical services such as emergency care, maternal health and paediatric treatment could collapse entirely in Gaza, leaving hundreds of thousands of residents without basic medical care.
As they did with MSF, the Israeli authorities have repeatedly accused the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, of providing cover for Hamas militants, claiming that some of its employees even took part in the Oct 7, 2023 attack.
A series of investigations, including one led by France’s former foreign minister Catherine Colonna, found some “neutrality-related issues” at UNRWA but stressed Israel had not provided conclusive evidence for its headline allegation.
In January, Israeli authorities began demolishing buildings at UNRWA’s headquarters in east Jerusalem, which the organisation described as an “unprecedented attack”.
UNRWA has now been banned from operating in east Jerusalem, but it continues to operate in Gaza and the Israeli-occupied West Bank. AFP
