1/4/2026 | Last Update: 02:56 (Mecca Time)
Isabelle Defourny, President of Doctors Without Borders (MSF), warned on Saturday that the organization might end its operations in the Gaza Strip by next March if Israel does not reverse its decision to ban its operations, along with the activities of 36 other organizations.
On Thursday, Israel confirmed it “will implement the ban” on the activities of 37 major international humanitarian organizations in the Gaza Strip because they did not provide lists of their Palestinian employees’ names in accordance with new legislation.
Doctors Without Borders described this decision as a “blatant transgression.”
Defourny told France Inter radio that “to provide treatment in the occupied Palestinian territories, the names of the employees must be registered, and this registration expired in December 2025.”
Doctors Without Borders provides services in 8 hospitals in the Gaza Strip (AFP)
800 Employees
Doctors Without Borders includes about 40 international staff in the Gaza Strip and cooperates with 800 Palestinian employees in 8 hospitals. Defourny said, “We still have international staff who were recently able to enter Gaza within the past few days.” She added, “We are the second-largest water distributor in the Gaza Strip. In 2025, we treated slightly over 100,000 people for burns or various injuries, and we rank second in the number of births we perform.”
Defourny considered that the Israeli decision stems from the fact that NGOs “witness the violence committed by the Israeli army” in Gaza. She added, “International journalists have never been allowed to enter Gaza, while the Israeli army targets and kills local journalists.” She noted that “more than 500 humanitarian workers have been killed—including 15 members of Doctors Without Borders—in Israeli raids since October 2023.”
United News Network – UNN Arabic
An independent media platform providing reliable news and objective analysis, seeking to promote peace and cultural dialogue around the world to convey the truth and build bridges of understanding between peoples.
For more news, you can visit our homepage:
