General issues

• Requirements for NGO oversight, due diligence and registration are entirely responsible and necessary practices, especially in a region controlled by terror regimes and in which NGO employees have cooperated closely with such proscribed groups.
• NGOs that condemn and reject cooperation with justified oversight and registration policies are placing primary emphasis on political advocacy, in contrast to their stated goal of providing vital humanitarian aid.
• In Dec 2023, former MSF Secretary General Alain Destexhe published a report titled “[MSF], an Accomplice of Hamas?” MSF, he wrote, “shows a systematic bias in favour of Hamas and hostility to Israel.” It “has failed in its humanitarian purpose and violated its own charter” – “a significant proportion of its staff seem to share the Hamas point of view and support the terrorist attacks of 7 October…The proximity between some MSF staff and Hamas raises questions about possible links between MSF in Gaza and extremist groups.”

The Case of MSF

• Terror Links – Israel’s concerns regarding extensive MSF’s terror ties in Gaza, and the lack of oversight by the NGO, are substantiated by credible and open-source evidence, as detailed in NGO Monitor reports:
  • In June 2024, MSF staffer Fadi Al-Wadiya was shown to be a PIJ operative responsible for “developing the terror group’s missiles.”
  • In Feb 2024, MSF openly acknowledged working with Gaza’s Hamas-run “Ministry of Health” – an arm of a proscribed group.
  • In November 2023, two MSF-linked doctors, Mahmoud Abu Nujaila and Ahmad Al-Sahar, were killed as a result of a strike that hit Al-Awda hospital in Gaza. Al-Awda hospital is run by an NGO linked to the  PFLP terror group, AWDA Health and Community Association (formerly known as the Union of Health Work Committees, or UHWC). (For more information, read NGO Monitor’s report “MSF in Gaza: Terror-linked Employee and Hospital”)
    • Abu Nujaila was the head of the PFLP’s health group, the Democratic Health Association, and has openly supported the PFLP and its violent actions, along with other terrorists who brutally killed Israelis.On October 17, 2021, Abu Nujaila shared a picture of a handwritten stylized text in a notebook that read, “October 17th, when the [gun] silencer cried in joy.” Abu Nujaila wrote, “It was the prettiest day, it was the PFLP’s response, and it was the decree of the people.” He added victory and heart emojis. On October 17, 2001, a PFLP cell directed by PFLP Secretary-General Ahmad Sa’adat assassinated Israeli tourism minister Rehavam Ze’evi.
    • On April 28, 2023, Al-Sahar shared a photo of a Hamas “field commander” Mohammed Attallah Al-Sahar, along with a picture of his father in military uniform, and wrote, “Yesterday it was his father and now it is him. May Allah have mercy on them and accept them [in heaven] as martyrs.”
  • Hamas, in internal documents obtained by NGO Monitor, noted that MSF France “chose the only room in Abu Yousef El-Najar Hospital that has a (safe) communication landline which belongs to [Hamas’ military wing]’s activity,” raising questions about coordination of activities with the terror group.
• Propaganda and Advocacy – MSF is highly activist when it comes to the Israel-Gaza context:
  • MSF failed to condemn the Hamas massacre of Oct 7 while joining many other influential advocacy NGOs in a campaign condemning any Israeli response and falsely labeling Israeli actions as genocide.
  • MSF’s participation in virulent anti-Israel propaganda is illustrated by the activities of Dr. Ghassan Abu-Sittah, who returned to Gaza on behalf of MSF on Oct 9, 2023. (See detailed publication.)
    • In numerous media appearances from Gaza under MSF sponsorship, Abu-Sittah played a central role in falsely declaring the Oct 17, 2023 rocket misfire that hit al-Ahli hospital an Israeli “massacre.” MSF continued to platform his claims long after the facts were verified and news organizations retracted the story – and has yet to issue a correction.
    • For over a year, MSF sponsored Abu-Sittah’s global media tour as a trustworthy eyewitness, in contrast to widely available evidence.
    • His statements include: “Israel fears Palestinian children. They represent the Palestinian tomorrow and are therfore a mortal threat to the Zionist project. That is why Israel has intensionally targeted children in its genocidal war [sic].”
• Exaggerated Role in Gaza – According to COGAT, the IDF body responsible for aid coordination in Gaza and the West Bank, MSF’s role in Gaza is negligible. It has operated up to only five clinics/ medical points in Gaza since October 7 – out of approximately 220. It has brought only 95 aid trucks into Gaza under the current ceasefire, a rounding error when 4,200 trucks now enter every single week.
• Bottom Line – At the highest levels, MSF is today as an activist, anti-Israel organization with concerning examples of terror links. Now, finally, Israel’s registration policies are beginning to reflect that reality. MSF should take this opportunity for introspection, and comply with basic policies of transparency to rebuild its reputation and return toward its stated founding mission – real “neutrality” and the principle of “doing no harm.”