On Thursday, January 1, Israel decided to withdraw the accreditation required by 37 foreign NGOs to work in the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip, claiming they had not met the criteria imposed under a new registration system. Among them is Doctors Without Borders (MSF), a major player on the international humanitarian scene. Its mission director in Jerusalem, Filipe Ribeiro, reacts to the drastic measure.

Did this situation develop gradually, or did the decision take you by surprise?

There are two aspects to the Israeli decision. The first is procedural. We had to complete a re-registration file, which we did, as we knew our registration with the Ministry of Welfare and Social Affairs was about to expire and that, moving forward, we would have to deal with the Ministry for Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism, a noteworthy development in itself. One element was missing: the staff list, upon which our Israeli interlocutors insisted.

Starting in March 2025, they began putting us under pressure, stating that without this list, we would not be re-registered. We responded, explained why we could not provide this list, and offered several times to meet and discuss it. They never replied. As the year ended, we found ourselves faced with a de facto refusal of registration, as well as a public communications campaign against MSF, including a 25-page report detailing the accusations against us. But the procedural aspect is actually a smokescreen. We all knew that the final Israeli decision would be based on political criteria.

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