Médecins Sans Frontières has called for an urgent expansion of humanitarian aid and unrestricted access to Gaza and the West Bank, warning that new restrictions and ongoing violence are severely limiting lifesaving medical and relief efforts.
February 2026- Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is calling for a massive scale-up of lifesaving assistance and unhindered humanitarian access amid the ongoing catastrophe in Gaza, where lives continue to be lost due to sustained violence and persistent aid restrictions imposed by the Israeli authorities. Despite these policies, MSF is committed to remaining to provide assistance in Palestine for as long as possible, working under our registration with the Palestinian Authority.
Under international humanitarian law, as the occupying power, the Israeli authorities are obliged to ensure the provision of humanitarian assistance. Yet restrictive new rules, which require 37 NGOs to leave Palestine by 1 March 2026, threaten to drastically reduce already insufficient aid. Governments worldwide must ensure that International Court of Justice decisions are respected, including facilitating the provision of humanitarian assistance.
“MSF is working to preserve services for patients in an increasingly constrained environment,” says Christopher Lockyear, MSF Secretary General. “The needs are immense and drastic restrictions have deadly consequences. Hundreds of thousands of patients need medical and mental health care, and tens of thousands require long-term medical, surgical and psychological follow-up.”
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Despite the US-led peace plan, the Israeli authorities continue to heavily restrict and even deny water, shelter and medical care. Living conditions are maintained at undignified levels, and violence continues to kill and injure Palestinians on a daily basis. In recent weeks, humanitarian aid reaching Gaza has significantly decreased. In the West Bank, medical and humanitarian needs continue to escalate amidst alarming increases in violence, forced displacement, armed settler attacks, home demolitions, settlement expansion and obstruction to healthcare.
“MSF’s programmes are critical lifelines. Medical care and humanitarian assistance on this scale cannot easily be replaced,” says Lockyear. “Amid ongoing humanitarian catastrophe, MSF will stay in Palestine for as long as possible, doing as much as we can. We call on the Israeli authorities to enable humanitarian aid at scale and on the international community to ensure Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank are not abandoned to their fate.”
