Overview
- Doctors Without Borders says it suspended non‑critical operations at Nasser Hospital on January 20 after staff and patients reported armed, masked men, intimidation, arrests of patients and suspected weapons movements in the compound.
- Critical inpatient and surgical care continue, but MSF ended support to paediatrics and maternity, including the neonatal intensive care unit, and paused multiple outpatient services.
- MSF says it cannot identify the affiliation of the armed individuals and reported its concerns to relevant authorities, stressing that hospitals must remain free of any military presence.
- Nasser Hospital and Gaza health authorities reject MSF’s account as false, saying armed personnel on site were civilian police deployed for protection and urging MSF to retract the allegations.
- Israeli authorities renewed claims that Hamas uses the hospital for military purposes as MSF’s wider Gaza operations face new Israeli NGO rules requiring staff disclosures that the group has refused to provide.