As an exceptional measure, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has agreed to provide Israel with a full list of its Palestinian and international staff in order to be able to resume operations in Gaza and the West Bank.
MSF made the announcement on Saturday, just over three weeks since Israel announced the ban on 37 NGOs from operating in Palestine due to failure to register in time. Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism Minister Amichai Chikli also claimed that security investigations had determined that employees of certain international organizations operating in Gaza were directly involved in terrorist activity.
MSF initially refused to provide such a list, claiming that it had concerns about the safety of its staff.
However, on Sunday it confirmed that in order to avoid “being forced to suspend our operations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory from March 1, 2026,” and “following unreasonable demands to hand over personal information about our staff,” it is prepared to share a defined list of Palestinian and international staff names, subject to clear parameters for staff safety.
It added that this move was made following extensive discussions with its Palestinian colleagues and will only be done with the express agreement of the individuals concerned.
MSF stressed that its priority remains the safety of its staff while “continuing to provide independent essential healthcare for Palestinians across the West Bank and Gaza in dire need.” Since January 1, 2026, all arrivals of MSF international staff into Gaza have been denied, and all its supplies have been blocked.
MSF activity in Gaza, West Bank
“Israel has knowingly given MSF and our Palestinian colleagues an impossible choice; either we provide this information or abandon the hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who need vital medical care.”
MSF says that 15 of its workers have been killed since October 2023.
Israel, however, claims that MSF maintained active ties to designated terrorist organizations and “practiced advancing an extreme anti-Israeli narrative under the guise of humanitarian activity.”
According to ministry documents viewed exclusively by The Jerusalem Post, 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 Abu Nejeila, has publicly expressed support for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).
The documents also said that, “despite repeated and explicit demands,” the organization did not provide full transparency regarding the identities, roles, and activities of those individuals.
This meant that none of the organization’s four branches, MSF Spain, Belgium, France, and the Netherlands, provided comprehensive staff lists – including details of Palestinian employees – as explicitly mandated by the registration guidelines.
MSF France was also accused of calling for an end to military support to Israel, as well as public support for BDS events.
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 seen, revocation is explicitly allowed for organizations that are actively pro-Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions, which MSF is known to be.