Monday, January 12, 2026- A medical clinic in Gaza City run by Doctors Without Borders (MSF) is struggling to keep its doors open as new restrictions imposed by Israeli authorities threaten its operations. The clinic, one of 20 health care facilities MSF runs across Gaza, has been a critical source of care for people wounded and sick after years of war.
Medical workers there are treating children and adults with severe injuries including a 14‑year‑old boy who has already undergone three surgeries after being run over while trying to get food for his family even as supplies dwindle and staff are stretched thin. MSF says its teams treated roughly half of Gaza’s population last year, highlighting how deeply the clinics are woven into the local health system.
Under new rules that came into effect on January 1, Israel has banned MSF and dozens of other international aid groups from bringing in international staff or supplies unless they comply with stringent security and transparency requirements. MSF reports that requests to rotate international doctors and nurses into Gaza have been repeatedly refused, forcing the clinic to rely solely on exhausted local personnel and dwindling stocks of medicine and equipment.
A Palestinian nurse at the clinic says there is a growing waitlist of patients whose conditions require long‑term care that simply cannot be provided under current constraints. Gaza’s wider health system was already shattered by years of conflict, making the potential shutdown of MSF facilities all the more dire.
The ban has drawn criticism internationally. U.N. agencies and multiple countries have called on Israel to reverse the restrictions, warning that cutting off international aid groups will worsen the humanitarian situation and undermine fragile progress under a ceasefire, particularly as many civilians continue to endure winter in inadequate shelters and children have died of hypothermia.
Israel maintains the ban will not harm aid delivery and says the measures are intended to ensure transparency and security, even as health authorities in Gaza warn that losing international support could cripple essential medical services amid ongoing shortages of supplies and rising needs.
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