Israel Tells Doctors Without Borders to End Its Work in Gaza
David M. Halbfinger and Aaron Boxerman
The New York Times
January 6, 2026
Summary
Israel has ordered Doctors Without Borders (MSF) to cease operations in Gaza after the organization failed to comply with new restrictions requiring registration of all Gazan employees and limiting criticism of Israel's conduct in the war.
MSF was told on Sunday it could no longer bring supplies into Gaza, on Tuesday that international aid workers could no longer enter, and given until end of February to cease all activities and withdraw international staff.
The organization currently runs or supports more than 20 percent of remaining hospital beds in Gaza, operates clinics for trauma and chronic illness patients, treats malnourished children, and distributed 700 million liters of water in 2024. With 40-50 international doctors and about 2,000 Palestinian workers at any time, MSF performed more than 22,000 operations and treated over 100,000 trauma cases in 2025.
The group was among dozens of humanitarian organizations that objected to Israel's requirement to supply names and identification numbers of Palestinian workers, citing violations of international law, workers' privacy rights, and European data-protection rules. Israel's new policy also allows blacklisting of aid groups over political activity such as promoting boycotts.
Israel's Ministry of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism released a 25-page report accusing MSF of "grave misconduct" and posing an "extremely high" security risk, primarily citing instances where the group or its members called Israel's war genocidal, criticized destruction in Gaza, or supported arms embargoes. The report also suggested MSF's Gaza office could have been infiltrated by Palestinian militants, citing two employees allegedly connected to militant groups, though MSF stated it would never knowingly employ people engaging in military activity.
Quotes
"If we can't work, it will have catastrophic consequences for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians." - Claire San Filippo, MSF Emergency Coordinator for Gaza
"Bearing witness is a principle of Doctors Without Borders, no matter where we work. If the descriptions of what our teams witness, see with their own eyes — the widespread destruction of the Gaza Strip, the wounded people, the spread of diseases as a result of the destruction of basic infrastructure, death, and the human consequences of genocidal violence — are unpalatable to some, the fault lies with those committing the atrocities, not with those who speak of them." - Claire San Filippo
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