by JPost exclusive
The well-known medical organization is one of several dozen NGOs prohibited from operating in Gaza and the West Bank since January 1.
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Doctors Without Borders (MSF) "practiced advancing an extreme anti-Israeli narrative under the guise of humanitarian activity," claimed Israeli ministry documents viewed exclusively by The Jerusalem Post.
The well-known medical organization is one of several dozen NGOs prohibited from operating in Gaza and the West Bank since January 1. Israel announced the move on Monday, and has been met with significant international outrage.
In a letter to the media on Wednesday, Minister of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism, Amichai Chikli, claimed that security investigations determined that employees of certain international organizations operating in Gaza were directly involved in terrorist activity.
With regards to Doctors Without Borders (MSF) specifically, Chikli claims it maintained active ties to designated terrorist organizations: in June 2024, a Palestinian Islamic Jihad operative was identified as an MSF employee, and in September 2024, another MSF employee was identified as a Hamas sniper. Chikli added that, "despite repeated and explicit demands," the organization did not provide full transparency regarding the identities, roles, and activities of those individuals.
Under Israel's current regulatory framework, licenses can be revoked for the following reasons: participation in efforts to delegitimize the State of Israel; legal warfare against IDF soldiers; Holocaust denial; and denial of the October 7 massacre. As shown, revocation is explicitly permitted for organizations that are actively pro-BDS, including MSF.
Documents viewed by the Post shed more light on the reasoning behind the ban on MSF: the most well-known and arguably the most reputable of the banned groups.
One reason cited in the documents is that none of the four MSF branches that registered in 2025 for a license to operate in Gaza passed the check. MSF Spain, Belgium, France, and the Netherlands allegedly failed to provide comprehensive staff lists, including details of Palestinian employees, as explicitly mandated by the registration guidelines.
MSF accused of terrorist ties
Israel assessed that the MSF branches were operating "under the pretext of humanitarian activity," while "in practice advancing an extreme anti-Israeli narrative, maintaining affiliations with terrorist entities, promoting boycotts, and willfully disregarding the registration obligations."What terror ties are MSF accused of maintaining? Israel's Inter-Ministerial Team said it identified substantial indications of direct or indirect affiliations between MSF Belgium and terrorist organizations. An MSF employee in Gaza, Fadi Al-Wadiya, was revealed to be a senior operative of Islamic Jihad and an expert in rocket systems, as evidenced in the MSF Belgium report and corroborated by IDF publications.
Another staff member, Mahmoud Abunejeila, has publicly expressed support for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).
Under Section 7.1(3) of the guidelines, Israel can deny an organization that has members who are terror operatives or who maintain ties with a proscribed terror group.
With regard to MSF France, Israel claims it has an "explicit agenda promoting political boycotts and arms embargo against Israel." It cited MSF France's calls for an end to military support to Israel, as well as public support for BDS events. MSF France has also repeatedly accused Israel of "genocide" and "ethnic cleansing" as well as intentional starvation of the people in Gaza. Israel found this to be "contrary to the neutrality expected" and thus grounds for denial.
"Such narratives, when disseminated by an international humanitarian body, carry dangerous implications: they undermine Israel’s legal standing, fuel hostile initiatives in diplomatic and legal arenas, and serve as a catalyst for campaigns of boycotts, sanctions, and isolation," the documents read.
MSF Belgium has also accused Israel of crimes against humanity, and, according to Israel, presents the Jewish state as "systematically oppressive, colonial and discriminatory." The documents accused MSF Belgium of aiming to "undermine the very status of the State of Israel as a democratic state."
Following an assessment of all of the above, the Inter-Ministry Team concluded that MSF's operations are an "extremely high risk level" and "pose significant exposure to the security of Israel." The documents cited the organization's failure to comply with basic registration requirements as further evidence of bad intentions and a lack of transparency.
As an alternative to the MSF branches, the documents recommend expanding the entry of professionals and teams from other health and medical organizations that "meet regulatory requirements and adhere to the principles of neutrality and transparency." It lists IMC, MedGlobal, and UK-MED as potential alternatives.
MSF International said on Wednesday that the Palestinian health system is "decimated, essential infrastructure is destroyed, and people struggle to meet basic needs."
"People need more services, not less. If MSF and other INGOs lose access, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians would be cut off from essential care," it said.
The IDF, however, disputed this, saying that the banned groups have produced only 1% of the aid and that many of them have been banned throughout the war, such that the current ban changes nothing on the ground.
Overall, the 24 organizations that have not been banned are producing 99% of the total aid volume, according to Israel, the IDF added.
JPost exclusive
Source: https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/defense-news/article-882019
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