Israel has banned Doctors Without Borders (MSF) from conducting humanitarian missions in Gaza. MSF has helped to keep the battered healthcare system at a minimal functioning level.
On Sunday, Tel Aviv announced that MSF would no longer be allowed to operate in Gaza. Israeli agencies claimed the humanitarian aid organization failed to provide Tel Aviv with sufficient documentation on its staff in the Strip.
MSF said it attempted to negotiate with Israel to share information about its staff, with safeguards to protect them, but those talks were unsuccessful. “Following many months of unsuccessful engagement with Israeli authorities, and in the absence of securing assurances to ensure the safety of our staff or the independent management of our operations,” the group’s statement explained. “MSF has concluded that it will not share a list of its Palestinian and international staff with Israeli authorities in the current circumstances.”
MSF supports about a fifth of all hospital beds in Gaza and a third of births. When Israel announced the ban last year, the UN’s human rights chief, Volker Türk, condemned the ban as “outrageous” and explained it was part of an Israeli policy to prevent aid from entering Gaza.
During Israel’s onslaught in Gaza, nearly all of the Strip’s hospitals were damaged or destroyed. Tel Aviv has also barred medical supplies from entering Gaza and injured Palestinians from leaving. The shortage of medical supplies has led to preventable deaths.
