Doctor from Médecins Sans Frontières in the Gaza Strip Photo: AA/ABACA / Abaca Press / Profimedia
Israel decided on Sunday to end the activities carried out by Doctors Without Borders (MSF) in the Gaza Strip until February 28 due to the organization's refusal to provide the list of its Palestinian employees, reports EFE, quoted by Agerpres.
The Ministry of Diaspora, responsible for registering humanitarian organizations, announced that it would “terminate the activities” of MSF in Palestinian territory for failing to provide this list, an obligation “applicable to all humanitarian organizations operating in the region.”
In December, the ministry indicated it would ban 37 humanitarian organizations, including MSF, from operating in the Gaza Strip from March 1 for failing to provide detailed information on Palestinian personnel.
He claimed that two MSF employees had ties to the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas and its ally, Islamic Jihad, which the NGO categorically denies.
On Sunday, the ministry said that MSF had pledged in early January to share the list, but that “despite its public commitment, the organization has refrained” from passing it on.
“Subsequently, MSF announced that it does not intend to initiate the registration process, contradicting its previous statements,” the ministry added, announcing that the NGO should cease operations and leave the Gaza Strip by February 28.
In a statement published on Friday, MSF said it had agreed in January, as an “exceptional” measure, to share “a partial list” of the names of its Palestinian and international staff, “subject to clear commitments regarding their safety”.
“Despite these repeated efforts, in recent days it has become evident that no dialogue is possible with the Israeli authorities to obtain the necessary guarantees”, added the NGO, which decided, as a result, not to share “the list of its Palestinian and international staff with the Israeli authorities”, according to the quoted statement.
