War in Middle East

The situation in Gaza 

Between October 7, 2023, and February 11, 2026, the Ministry of Health reported the deaths of at least 72,045 Palestinians in Gaza, and indicated that more than 171,686 others were injured (OCHA).

The situation in Gaza remains catastrophic. If MSF and other major NGOs cannot continue their work in Gaza and the West Bank, hundreds of thousands of people will be unable to access the healthcare, water and other essential services they need. Inevitably, more people will die from preventable causes.

Israel blocking MSF from bringing in supplies and international staff to Gaza and the West Bank, along with dozens of other international NGOs, is a pretext to obstruct humanitarian assistance with devastating consequences for people in Gaza, where needs are overwhelming and the health system is collapsing due to repeated and systematic attacks by Israel. As an occupying power, Israel has a responsibility to facilitate humanitarian aid, not politicize or weaponize it.  

MSF will continue to provide medical humanitarian care, and to bear witness to the suffering of the Palestinian population, for as long as possible. We are working to preserve healthcare for our patients in an increasingly constrained environment.

MSF’s programmes are fundamental. If we were forced to leave in the greatest time of need, this would be catastrophic. It would also remove witnesses in a context where international media are still barred, and Palestinian journalists continue to be killed. 

Today, more than ever, Palestinians need more services not less. Aid must be scaled up, not blocked.

The situation in the West Bank

As Israel continues the annexation of the West Bank, violence by Israeli forces and settlers, movement restrictions, obstructions to health care, demolitions of homes and forced displacement continue to increase for Palestinians.

In the West Bank, Israel’s policies and practices toward annexation as part of a broader plan of territorial and demographic engineering, are creating grave risks of forcible transfer, ethnic cleansing, and the overall erasure of Palestinian presence. 

Palestinians in the West Bank have been facing a significant escalation of violence both by Israeli forces and settlers since October 2023. This has escalated further in 2025 due to the ‘Iron Wall’ campaign which has displaced more than 40,000 Palestinians in northern West Bank. Israeli Forces have emptied and destroyed, in part or in whole, the Jenin, Nur Shams and Tulkarem refugee camps, Israeli authorities continue to conduct mass home demolitions in the West Bank. 

This increased wave of violence takes place in a context of oppression Palestinians endure under Israeli occupation, which the International Court of Justice (ICJ), on 19 July 2024, deemed unlawful and in clear violation of international prohibitions against racial segregation and apartheid. Israeli forces continue to massively displace Palestinians in the West Bank.   

MSF calls for an immediate end to forced displacement and military aggression against Palestinians in the West Bank. This includes prolonged military operations, movement restrictions, demolitions, disproportionate use of force, cooperation with and facilitation of settler violence, and denial of essential services – including obstructions to healthcare.