Update: MSF will not share aid staff information with Israeli authorities, faces ban on Gaza operations

Author Sharlene Gandhi
In a statement released on Jan. 30, 2026, Doctors Without Borders / Médecins Sans Frontières confirmed that “no staff information has been shared with the Israeli authorities in this process.” On Feb. 1, 2026, several media outlets reported that Israel will terminate the aid organization’s licence to operate in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

Why It Matters

After announcing the previous week that it was “prepared to share a defined list of Palestinian and international staff names” with Israeli authorities, Doctors Without Borders faced backlash from prominent advocates.

Staff from Doctors Without Borders / Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) march through central London to demand action from the UK government on the crisis in Gaza (Doctors Without Borders / Médecins Sans Frontières / Facebook)

A prominent international aid organization working in Gaza says it will not give its workers’ personal information to Israeli authorities, following an outcry from advocates.

Doctors Without Borders / Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) faces an imminent ban from the Occupied Palestinian Territories. 

After stating on Jan. 24 that it would “be prepared to share a defined list of Palestinian and international staff names” with Israeli authorities, MSF said Friday that personal information will not be shared. 

“Despite repeated efforts, it became evident in recent days that we were unable to build engagement with Israeli authorities on the concrete assurances required,” the statement reads. 

MSF said it wished to confirm with Israeli authorities that staff information would only be used for administrative purposes and that MSF would retain control of HR matters and medical supply management. 

MSF also sought assurance from Israeli authorities that “all communications defaming MSF and undermining staff safety would cease.”

No staff information has been shared with Israeli authorities thus far, they confirmed. 

Humanitarian aid organizations operating in the Occupied Palestinian Territories had been told by Israeli authorities that in order to continue operating in the region, they would have to register by providing personal information about each staff member and their families. 

Many aid organizations – including MSF – said that these requirements would “breach humanitarian principles, duty of care and data protection obligations.”

MSF was told on Dec. 30, 2025 that its previous registration had lapsed, and would be expected to stop all work in the region within the following 60 days.

According to the group Decolonise MSF, “this reversal follows internal and external uproar after whistleblowers revealed that certain MSF staff had written to the Israeli regime, offering to share staff lists if certain conditions were met.”

“We remain deeply concerned that MSF has caveated this decision by stating that it only applies ‘in the current circumstances’,” the group added. 

Fifteen staff from MSF have been killed since October 2023. 

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  • Sharlene Gandhi is the Future of Good editorial fellow on digital transformation.

    Sharlene has been reporting on responsible business, environmental sustainability and technology in the UK and Canada since 2018. She has worked with various organizations during this time, including the Stanford Social Innovation Review, the Pentland Centre for Sustainability in Business at Lancaster University, AIGA Eye on Design, Social Enterprise UK and Nature is a Human Right. Sharlene moved to Toronto in early 2023 to join the Future of Good team, where she has been reporting at the intersections of technology, data and social purpose work. Her reporting has spanned several subject areas, including AI policy, cybersecurity, ethical data collection, and technology partnerships between the private, public and third sectors.

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