Israel Orders MSF to End Gaza Operations by Feb. 28

Israeli authorities have ordered the international medical charity Doctors Without Borders, known as Médecins Sans Frontières or MSF, to halt all operations in the Gaza Strip and leave the territory by February 28, following the organization's refusal to provide a list of its Palestinian staff members.

The decision, announced Sunday by Israel's Ministry of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism, stems from a registration requirement for humanitarian groups operating in Gaza and the West Bank. In December, the ministry informed 37 aid organizations, including MSF, that they would be barred from working in the territories starting March 1 unless they submitted detailed employee information. Officials stated the measure aims to prevent aid diversions by Palestinian armed groups and ensure security. The ministry specifically alleged that two MSF employees had ties to Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, though MSF has denied these claims.

MSF initially agreed in early January to share a partial list of staff names as an exceptional measure, but later withdrew, citing concerns over staff safety and the absence of guarantees that the information would be used solely for...