{"id":91471,"date":"2026-02-02T23:33:54","date_gmt":"2026-02-03T04:33:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/?p=91471"},"modified":"2026-02-02T23:35:00","modified_gmt":"2026-02-03T04:35:00","slug":"israel-orders-doctors-without-borders-out-of-gaza-after-broken-pledge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/israel-orders-doctors-without-borders-out-of-gaza-after-broken-pledge\/","title":{"rendered":"Israel orders Doctors without Borders out of Gaza after broken pledge"},"content":{"rendered":"

By DAVID ISSAC<\/p>\n

(JNS.org<\/em>) \u2013 <\/span>Israel announced on Monday that M\u00e9decins Sans Fronti\u00e8res (MSF), also known as Doctors Without Borders, must cease its activities in the Gaza Strip and leave by Feb. 28 after failing to hand over a list of its local and international staff for security purposes.<\/p>\n

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Humanitarian aid for Gaza sourced by Doctors Without Borders (M\u00e9decins Sans Fronti\u00e8res) and the World Health Organization are stored at warehouses in the Egyptian border town of El-Arish. (Benoit Tessier\/POOL\/AFP)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

On Dec. 30, 2025, Israel suspended 37 NGOs that failed to meet stricter requirements announced last March by a new inter-ministerial committee set up to handle the registration and supervision of international organizations operating in Judea and Samaria and the Gaza Strip. (It approved 24 groups, which it said account for 99% of total aid to the Strip.)<\/p>\n

\u201cHumanitarian aid\u2014yes. Security blindness\u2014no,\u201d said Israeli Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli in a statement provided to JNS on Sunday. The Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism Ministry leads the inter-ministerial committee.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnfortunately, [M\u00e9decins Sans Fronti\u00e8res] is once again showing a lack of transparency. \u2026 The organization changed its position abruptly, after publicly pledging to act in accordance with the regulations,\u201d said Chikli.<\/p>\n

Among the new regulations, groups are required to submit a list of all employees. \u201cThe list shall include full names, passport numbers (for foreign employees), identification numbers (for Palestinian employees), and contact details,\u201d according to the guidelines published on the Israeli government\u2019s website on March 9, 2025.<\/p>\n

At first, MSF refused to comply. Then, faced with the end of its activities in Gaza, it agreed to the new requirements on Jan. 23, and promised to transfer a list of its staff by Jan. 27. That date came and went without a list being provided.<\/p>\n

The group then backtracked, announcing in a Jan. 30 statement that it would not provide a personnel list \u201cin the absence of securing assurances to ensure the safety of our staff or the independent management of our operations.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIn practice, despite the public commitment, the organization refrained from transferring the lists \u2026, contrary to its previous statements and the binding procedure,\u201d said the Diaspora Affairs Ministry. \u201cIn light of this and in accordance with the provisions of the procedure, by Feb. 28, 2026, MSF will cease its activities and leave the Gaza Strip and Judea and Samaria.\u201d<\/p>\n

The ministry stressed that the regulation is intended to enable legitimate humanitarian activity while preventing \u201cthe exploitation of humanitarian cover for hostile purposes and terrorist activity.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is particularly relevant to M\u00e9decins Sans Fronti\u00e8res<\/a>, which has employed terrorists in the past.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have at least two documented cases of MSF activists that were directly involved in terrorism, Hamas organizations and Palestinian Islamic Jihad,\u201d said Chikli.<\/p>\n

Israel\u2019s Foreign Ministry tweeted a video of those terrorists on Sunday, noting MSF had \u201cpublicly mourned\u201d an employee, Nasser Hamdi Abdelatif al-Shalfouh, who was a \u201cconfirmed Hamas terrorist.\u201d It also employed Fadi al-Wadiya, a Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist, the ministry said.<\/p>\n

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