Israel ordered Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) to halt operations in the Gaza Strip and leave the territory by Feb. 28, escalating a standoff over new security rules designed to prevent terrorist groups from exploiting humanitarian cover.

The move follows MSF’s refusal to provide Israeli authorities with a full list of its local and international staff, a requirement imposed last year by a new inter-ministerial committee overseeing foreign organizations operating in Gaza and the West Bank. Israeli officials say the organization repeatedly pledged to comply, then reversed course.

“Humanitarian aid — yes. Security blindness — no,” said Amichai Chikli, whose ministry leads the committee. “Unfortunately, MSF is once again showing a lack of transparency.”

Under regulations published in March 2025, NGOs must submit employee rosters including names, identification numbers and contact details. Israel says the requirement is essential to screen for terrorist ties. On Dec. 30, authorities suspended 37 organizations that failed to meet the standard, while approving 24 groups that officials say account for nearly all humanitarian aid entering Gaza.

MSF initially refused to submit the lists, then agreed on Jan. 23 after Israel warned it would suspend the group’s activities. The organization said it would deliver the information by Jan. 27. The deadline passed without submission. Three days later, MSF announced it would not provide the roster “in the absence of securing assurances to ensure the safety of our staff or the independent management of our operations.”

In a statement Sunday, Israel’s Diaspora Affairs Ministry said the organization’s reversal violated binding procedures. “In light of this,” the ministry said, “by Feb. 28, 2026, MSF will cease its activities and leave the Gaza Strip and Judea and Samaria.”

Israeli officials say the dispute is not merely bureaucratic. Chikli accused MSF of employing terrorists in the past, citing at least two documented cases involving members of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Israel’s Foreign Ministry on Sunday released video it said showed MSF employees who were later identified as terrorists, including Nasser Hamdi Abdelatif al-Shalfouh, whom the ministry described as a confirmed Hamas operative.

The ministry also said MSF employed Fadi al-Wadiya, a Palestinian Islamic Jihad member, and alleged the group coordinates closely with Gaza’s Hamas-run Health Ministry. Israeli officials also note that MSF’s public statements frequently mirror messaging from Hamas authorities in the enclave.

That pattern, Israel said, extended to the staffing dispute. On Sunday, COGAT, which coordinates civilian affairs in the territories, noted that Hamas issued a statement urging organizations not to share employee lists on the same day MSF announced it would withhold its roster. “Coincidence?” COGAT wrote.

MSF describes itself as an independent medical humanitarian organization and has rejected allegations of terrorist ties. But it has long been a flashpoint in Israel’s broader campaign against international NGOs that blur the line between aid and politics.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)