Doctors Without Borders says Israeli ban ‘pretext’ to block aid to Gaza

Doctors Without Borders (MSF) says that Israel’s decision to terminate the medical charity’s operations in Gaza was a “pretext” to obstruct the delivery of humanitarian aid to the war-devastated Palestinian territory.

“This is a pretext to obstruct humanitarian assistance. 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,” MSF says in a statement.

Earlier on Sunday, Israel said it was terminating the humanitarian operations of MSF in Gaza, citing the organization’s failure to provide a list of its Palestinian staff as demanded by the authorities.

Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) said earlier that “MSF continue to play publicity games instead of complying with the registration process.”

“The continued withholding of basic staff information raises serious questions on the involvement of MSF staff with Hamas,” COGAT charged.

On January 1, Israel vowed to enforce a ban on the activities of 37 international NGOs operating in Gaza, including MSF, over their failure to comply with stringent new “security and transparency” requirements concerning their employees.

The standards were put in place under a government resolution from March 1, 2025, requiring NGOs to submit a raft of documentation about their organization and identify all foreign and Palestinian employees, including their passports and personal identification numbers. Some of the NGOs targeted have said the requirements flout, or at least erode, international humanitarian law, and Israel has faced international criticism.

Israel has accused MSF of having two employees who held membership in the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hamas terror groups. The group has denied the allegations, saying it would “never knowingly employ anyone involved in military activities.”