MSF says it will not hand over staff details to Israeli authorities

Doctors Without Borders, known by its French initials MSF, has said it will not provide Israeli authorities with the personal details of its staff working in Gaza and across the occupied Palestinian territory, citing concerns for staff safety and a lack of assurances over how the information would be used.

The decision on Friday follows criticism of MSF’s statement last week that it was prepared to share the names of its staff under strict conditions – a position that sparked concern among aid workers and rights advocates.

The organisation has since said it was unable to secure the guarantees it sought from Israeli authorities and has now ruled out sharing any staff data “under the current circumstances”, citing risks to its workers’ safety.

Israel demanded last year that several international aid organisations hand over detailed information about their staff, funding and operations as part of what it described as new “security and transparency standards”.

The move has been widely criticised by humanitarian groups, who say it risks further endangering aid workers in a context where Israel’s military has already killed more than 1,700 health workers since the start of its genocidal war against Palestinians in Gaza in October 2023, including at least 15 MSF employees.

On January 1, Israel withdrew the licences of 37 aid organisations – including MSF, the Norwegian Refugee Council, the International Rescue Committee and Oxfam – saying they had failed to comply with the new requirements.

Under regulations issued by Israel’s Ministry for Diaspora Affairs, organisations are required to submit sensitive information, including passport copies, CVs and the names of family members, including children.

The rules also allow Israel to bar organisations it accuses of inciting racism, denying Israel’s existence or the Holocaust, or supporting what it calls “an armed struggle by an enemy state or a terrorist organisation”.

MSF said that after months of engagement with Israeli authorities, it concluded that it could not safely comply with the demands.