MSF calls Israeli ban a ‘grave blow’ to Gaza aid

AFP | Jerusalem

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International charity Doctors Without Borders yesterday condemned a “grave blow to humanitarian aid” after Israel revoked the status it needs to operate in Gaza for refusing to share Palestinian staff lists.

Israel on Thursday confirmed it had banned access to the Gaza Strip to 37 foreign humanitarian organisations for refusing to share lists of their Palestinian employees.

Doctors Without Borders (MSF), which has 1,200 staff members in the Palestinian territories, the majority of them in Gaza, said in a statement that “denying medical assistance to civilians is unacceptable under any circumstances”.

The medical organisation argued that it had “legitimate concerns” over new Israeli requirements for foreign NGO registration, specifically the disclosing of personal information about Palestinian staff.

It pointed to the fact that 15 MSF staff had been “killed by Israeli forces”, and that access to any given territory should not be conditional on staff list disclosure.

“Demanding staff lists as a condition for access to territory is an outrageous overreach,” the charity said.

MSF also denounced “the absence of any clarity about how such sensitive data will be used, stored, or shared”, charging that Israeli forces “have killed and wounded hundreds of thousands of civilians” in Gaza during the course of the war.

It also charged that Israel had “manufactured shortages of basic necessities by blocking and delaying the entry of essential goods, including medical supplies”.

Israel controls and regulates all entry points into Gaza, which is surrounded by a wall that began to be built in 2005.

The ban, which came into effect on December 31, 2025 at midnight, has triggered widespread international condemnation.