MSF warns Israeli decision to end Gaza operations threatens patients’ lives

Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has warned that an Israeli decision requiring it to end its activities in the Gaza Strip by 28th February would pose a direct threat to patients’ lives and further worsen an already deteriorating humanitarian situation.

In a statement issued on Sunday, the organisation said Israeli occupation authorities had ordered MSF to cease operations and leave Gaza entirely by the end of February. MSF described the move as a direct attack on humanitarian and medical work in the Strip, saying it would prevent life-saving aid from reaching the population.

The organisation said the Israeli authorities were presenting humanitarian agencies with an “impossible” choice: either endanger medical teams or stop providing emergency care to the sick and wounded who urgently need assistance.

MSF said the closure would deepen the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and threaten the lives of thousands of patients, citing the severe shortage of health services and continued urgent medical needs.

Since October 2023, Israeli occupation forces have committed genocide in the Gaza Strip, including killing, starvation, destruction, displacement and arrest, ignoring international appeals and orders by the International Court of Justice to stop it.

READ: Israel bans Doctors Without Borders from Gaza