Patients at Gaza’s Nasser Hospital fear losing vital care as Israel bans MSF from March, accusing staff of militant links, which the aid group denies
KHAN YUNIS: Patients at a Gaza hospital fear being abandoned if Doctors Without Borders is forced to leave under an Israeli order.
Israel announced it would ban 37 aid groups, including MSF, from operating in Gaza from March 1 for failing to provide detailed staff information.
“They stood by us throughout the war,” said 10-year-old Adam Asfour, wounded by shrapnel in a September bombing.
The Ministry of Diaspora Affairs accused two MSF employees of links to Hamas and Islamic Jihad, allegations MSF denies.
The decision has triggered international condemnation from aid groups.
They warn it will severely disrupt already scarce food and medical supplies after more than two years of war.
Inside the packed Nasser Hospital, MSF staff still tend to children with burns and shrapnel wounds.
The prospect of their departure was unthinkable for Fayrouz Barhoum, whose grandson is being treated for burns.
“We need continuity of care,” she said.
AFP spoke with patients and relatives who all expressed the same fear of having nowhere left to turn.
MSF says it provides at least 20% of hospital beds in Gaza and operates around 20 health centres.
In 2025 alone, it carried out more than 800,000 medical consultations.
“It’s almost impossible to find an organisation that will come here and be able to replace all what we are doing,” said MSF official Claire Nicolet.
She noted MSF also distributes drinking water to a war-weary population.
Israeli officials have repeatedly accused Hamas of using Gaza’s medical facilities as command centres.
Many facilities are damaged, overcrowded, or have unreliable supplies.
Aid groups warn that without support, emergency and maternal care could collapse entirely.
Humanitarian sources say at least three international NGO employees have already been blocked from entering Gaza.
“For now, we will continue working as long as we can,” said MSF logistics manager Kelsie Meaden.
She added that constraints were mounting, preventing new international staff and supplies from entering.
