Gaza hospital rejects MSF’s ‘unsubstantiated’ allegation on armed men 

The Nasser Hospital Complex has condemned aid group Doctors Without Borders, known by its French initials MSF, for pulling out of operations, alleging the presence of armed men and weapons at the facility.

In a statement on Sunday, the hospital said the MSF allegation was “false, unsubstantiated, and misleading” and “posed a serious risk to a protected” civilian medical facility – one of southern Gaza’s last functioning large hospitals.

MSF on Saturday suspended all its noncritical medical operations at Nasser Hospital, citing security breaches that posed “serious” threats to its teams and patients. The Geneva, Switzerland-based charity said there had been an increase in patients and staff seeing armed men in parts of the compound since a United States-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hamas was reached in October last year.

But the hospital said the MSF issued statements that “misrepresent facts and mirror narratives historically used to justify attacks” on hospitals, “despite full transparency and repeated clarification”.

“Such statements are not neutral. They foreseeably endanger Nasser Hospital Complex, serving over one million civilians, by undermining its protected status under international humanitarian law. MSF is aiding in manufacturing consent for attacks against the hospital,” it said.

The hospital, located in Khan Younis, demanded that MSF should “immediately retract all allegations regarding weapons or armed presence” and “publicly reaffirm commitment to medical neutrality grounded in verified facts”.

“The Gaza Strip is under an extreme and prolonged state of emergency resulting from systematic attacks on civilian institutions. Under these conditions, isolated unlawful actions by uncontrolled individuals and groups have occurred across society, including attempts by some to carry weapons,” the Nasser Hospital said in its statement.

It said the hospital complex itself has been subjected to attacks and threats, and that it has arranged for civilian police “in full compliance with domestic law and international norms”.

A group called Doctors Against Genocide also said MSF had made “false allegations” against the Nasser Medical Complex.

“The consequences of these false accusations have placed healthcare workers and patients at Nasser Hospital Complex at risk of attacks and loss of life,” it said in a post on Instagram.

MSF’s decision follows a recent directive from Israel ordering the organisation, along with dozens of other international groups, to halt their activities in Gaza and the occupied West Bank unless they complied with new requirements, including handing over detailed information about their staff.

Two weeks earlier, MSF, which supplies international staff to six hospitals and runs two field hospitals as well as eight primary health centres, clinics and medical points, said it would not provide Israel with a list of its personnel after failing to obtain guarantees for their safety.

Israel has decimated Gaza’s health infrastructure during its genocidal war on Gaza, and continues to hold 95 Palestinian doctors and medical workers captive, including 80 from the enclave.