Medical charity banned for failing to provide personal information of enclave staff to Israeli authorities.

Israel says it will end Doctors Without Borders’ humanitarian operations in Gaza after failing to provide a list of Palestinian staff, further denying Palestinians in the besieged enclave access to life-saving aid.

December, Israel declares It will prevent 37 aid groups, including Doctors Without Borders, from operating in Gaza from March 1 after they failed to submit details about Palestinian employees, drawing widespread condemnation from NGOs and the United Nations.

“The Ministry of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Anti-Semitism is taking action to end the activities of Doctors Without Borders (MSF) in the Gaza Strip,” the ministry said on Sunday.

The decision was taken “after MSF failed to submit a list of local employees, a requirement that applies to all humanitarian organizations operating in the area”.

The ministry earlier claimed two MSF employees had links to Palestinian groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad, but the charity denied this.

Médecins Sans Frontières had promised in early January to share staff lists as requested by Israeli authorities, the ministry said on Sunday. Finally I endured it The reasons were concerns about staff safety and a lack of assurances about how the information would be used.

“Subsequently, MSF announced that it did not intend to proceed with the registration process at all, contradicting previous statements and the binding agreement,” the ministry said, adding that “MSF will cease its operations and leave the Gaza Strip by February 28.”

James Smith, an emergency doctor in London, told Al Jazeera that Israel’s decision to end MSF’s operations in Gaza “is an extension of Israel’s systematic weaponization and instrumentalization of aid.”

Smith said that “Israel has systematically targeted the Palestinian medical system, killing more than 1,700 Palestinian medical workers,” thereby “creating a profound dependence on international organizations.”

Médecins Sans Frontières said 15 of its employees were killed during Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza, which began on October 7, 2023.

Doctors Without Borders has long been the enclave’s main provider of medical and humanitarian aid, especially since the war began.

The charity said it currently provides at least 20% of the region’s hospital beds and operates around 20 health centres.

In 2025 alone, there will be more than 800,000 doctor visits and more than 10,000 babies delivered. It also provides drinking water.

Aid groups have warned that without international support from organizations such as Médecins Sans Frontières, key services such as emergency care, maternal health and pediatric treatment in Gaza could completely collapse, leaving hundreds of thousands of residents without access to basic medical services.