The Israeli government has banned Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) from operating in the Gaza Strip. This decision follows a dispute over the medical charity’s refusal to provide a list of its Palestinian and international staff to Israeli authorities.
Medical charity refused to provide employee lists without safety measures
According to a BBC report, Israel’s Ministry of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism stated that the ban resulted from MSF’s failure to submit lists of local employees. This is a requirement applicable to all humanitarian organisations operating in the region.
The government had previously ordered 37 international non-governmental organisations (NGOs), including MSF, to submit documents about their workers. Officials claimed the measure aimed to prevent the infiltration of terrorist operatives into humanitarian structures.
It also alleged that some MSF staff had links to armed groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad, a claim which MSF vehemently denies.
MSF, however, declared on Friday that it would not comply without first securing assurances to ensure the safety of its staff. The charity stated that it could not obtain guarantees from Israeli authorities that the information would be used solely for administrative purposes.
“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 said in a Sunday statement calling the ban a pretext to obstruct humanitarian assistance.
Sam Rose, director of Gaza affairs for the UN’s Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA), warned of major negative consequences. He cited the killing of 1,700 healthcare staff, including 15 from MSF, since the war began as a key reason for the charity’s caution.
Israel bans MSF, threatens healthcare access
MSF currently provides at least 20% of hospital beds in Gaza and operates around 20 health centres. It also carried out over 800,000 medical consultations and more than 10,000 infant deliveries last year.
Meanwhile, MSF faces parallel access restrictions in South Sudan. The charity denounced the government’s suspension of all humanitarian flights since December 2025.
Abdalla Hussein, MSF Desk Manager for South Sudan, stated that patients will die if the government continues to block humanitarian access in Jonglei. He noted that at least 23 critically ill patients urgently need medical referrals.
Findings by Charity Journal reveal that the war in Gaza, which began after Hamas’s 7 October 2023 attack on Israel, has killed over 71,660 people. Despite a ceasefire beginning 10 October 2025, violence has continued, with at least 509 Palestinians and four Israeli soldiers reported killed since.
In reaction to the broader context, Francesca Albanese, a former UN official, disclosed that Israel has no authority to block anyone from entering the Palestinian territory it illegally occupies. Albanese also called on Israel to stop normalising the illegal occupation by bending to its diktats.
Also, an independent Lebanese geopolitical commentator, Sarah, accused the European Union of complicity in the genocide in Gaza and the massacre of their people from Lebanon to Syria to Yemen, Iran, and beyond
In a related development, the medical humanitarian organisation Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) had accused Israeli authorities of forcing an impossible choice by demanding the personal information of its staff as a condition for continuing its lifesaving operations in Gaza and the West Bank.
Similarly, MSF has opened a 30-bed surgical ward in Malakai Teaching Hospital, Upper Nile State, South Sudan. The humanitarian organisation said the ward will help improve surgical care in hospitals with limited medical facilities.
