Palestine: MSF reaffirms decision to challenge Israel’s ban on 37 organizations from operating
MSF and other nongovernmental organizations warn restrictions endanger Palestinian lives.
Following an initial hearing at Israel’s High Court on March 23, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and 18 other leading humanitarian organizations reaffirm our decision to proceed with the petition we filed in February 2026 before the High Court. The petition challenges Israel’s ban on 37 humanitarian organizations from operating in Palestine. We have taken the unprecedented step of petitioning to the High Court with a coalition of humanitarian organizations, after Israeli authorities ordered us to cease operations in Palestine by the end of February under revised registration rules imposed by Israel, threatening to cut Palestinians off from essential humanitarian assistance.
We have repeatedly raised serious concerns about Israel’s requests to provide personal information as part of the new registration process. In Palestine, medical and humanitarian workers have been intimidated, arbitrarily detained, attacked and killed by Israel. Therefore, without the necessary assurances that safeguard our staff, MSF will not share a list of our Palestinian staff with Israeli authorities.
Since October 2023, following Hamas’ massacre on Oct. 7, 2023, Israel has killed over 1,700 health workers in attacks on Gaza, as well as 15 of our own colleagues. The new registration requirements imposed by the Israeli authorities are a pretext to obstruct humanitarian assistance and violate humanitarian principles. They also violate our duty of care towards our staff, as well as international data protection standards.
MSF calls on governments of the international community to use all diplomatic, political and legal leverage to demand that the Israeli government suspend these restrictions on essential aid and prevent further suffering for people in Gaza and the West Bank.
Israel is forcing humanitarian organizations into an impossible position, designed to obstruct humanitarian assistance by banning principled, independent and experienced organizations, therefore cutting off essential care, with devastating consequences for people in Palestine.
What is needed now is a massive scale-up of unhindered humanitarian assistance which Israeli authorities, as the occupying power, are obliged to ensure. Since Jan. 1, Israel has entirely blocked MSF from bringing any supplies or international staff into Gaza. On Feb. 26, all international staff had to leave Gaza and the West Bank.
MSF’s medical programs are already facing shortages in Gaza. In the West Bank, we have had to significantly reduce some activities due to administrative and security barriers, while Palestinians face intensifying violence and movement restrictions. In the longer term, our activities may be impossible to maintain under such restrictive conditions.
While the High Court deliberates, MSF calls on governments of the international community to use all diplomatic, political and legal leverage to demand that the Israeli government suspend these restrictions on essential aid and prevent further suffering for people in Gaza and the West Bank. We are committed to remaining in Palestine and providing assistance for as long as possible, as we have for nearly four decades.
Related news
Middle East and North Africa: Behind the armour, men’s mental health
Palestine: Ceasefire in Gaza, humanitarian aid must flow immediately
