Israel suspends Doctors Without Borders activities in Gaza

On Sunday, Israel decided to suspend the activities of Doctors Without Borders (MSF) in the Gaza Strip, giving the organization until February 28 to leave, due to its refusal to provide Tel Aviv with lists of its staff.

This came in a statement issued by the Ministry of Diaspora Affairs, the government body responsible for dealing with humanitarian organizations operating in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, according to the Israeli newspaper Maariv.

The ministry stated that “Doctors Without Borders has refused to transfer lists of its local (Palestinian) staff, thus violating the mandatory procedure followed with all humanitarian organizations.”

On Friday, MSF said in a statement that “after months of fruitless contacts with the Israeli authorities, and the lack of guarantees ensuring the safety of our staff and the independence of our operations, we have decided not to share lists of our Palestinian and international staff with Israel.”

The ministry claimed that “these measures aim to enable legitimate relief activities, while preventing the exploitation of humanitarian cover for hostile or terrorist purposes.”