Israel says it will ban Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) from working in Gaza after the medical charity refused to hand over a list of its staff in the territory.
The Israeli government had ordered 37 organisations to submit documents about their local and international workers in Gaza, claiming some in MSF had links to armed groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad. The charity has vehemently denied this.
MSF announced on Friday that it would not share a list of its Palestinian and international staff with Israeli authorities as it had not secured “assurances to ensure the safety of our staff”.
In response, Israel said it was “moving to terminate the activities” of MSF in Gaza.
The Israeli Ministry of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism said the decision followed “MSF’s failure to submit lists of local employees, a requirement applicable to all humanitarian organisations operating in the region”.
On 30 December, Israel announced that it was going to revoke the licences of 37 international non-governmental organisations working in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, saying they had failed to meet new registration requirements.
At the time the diaspora ministry said the measure was needed to prevent “the infiltration of terrorist operatives into humanitarian structures”.
The groups – which include MSF, ActionAid and the Norwegian Refugee Council – were told their operations must end within 60 days.
The move was condemned by 10 countries, including the UK, France and Canada, who said the rules would have a severe impact on access to essential services.
Credit: bbc.com
