Israel's Shin Bet intelligence and security service has barred two foreign physicians from entering Gaza, after they spoke out about the atrocities they witnessed against Palestinians in the enclave, as well as the humanitarian situation.
American physician Dr. Mimi Syed and Dr. Catherine Le Scolin-Quere from France were set to return to Gaza this week on Thursday to volunteer in hospitals amid the famine caused by Israel restricting aid.
However, the pair were prevented from travelling after the Coordinator of Government of Activities in the Territories notified them that they would not be able to re-enter the territory.
The doctors, who had previously entered Gaza with an American charity, had already travelled from their respective countries to Jordan on Thursday but were told they would not be allowed to enter Israel or Gaza.
Syed, who has previously spoken to The New Arab about witnessing the starvation in Gaza and seeing wounded, sick and starving people in hospitals, has been to Gaza twice amid the war.
One of the trips was in August, the second in December 2024. Following both trips, she spoke to various media outlets about her experience and the urgency of the situation in the enclave, which has been relentlessly bombed by Israel.
Le Scolin-Quere was also there in December 2024 and volunteering in hospitals amid a restriction on tools, resources and attacks on hospital premises.
Speaking to The New Arab, Syed said she wanted to go back to Gaza "because the situation got significantly worse since the last time I was there, and my colleagues reached out and asked when I would be coming back".
She added that children being deliberately starved and killed also prompted her decision, and that "as a mother, I felt compelled to show up for children in Gaza and for the mothers".
Syed explained that authorities refused to give her a reason as to why she would be denied entry, and that she saw her name in red on an excel spreadsheet with the word ‘denied’. She added that there was no appeal process, and the same had happened to dozens of others of medical workers in the past.
"There might be multiple reasons [for me being denied entry] but I do believe this is another form of denying humanitarian aid in the form of medical workers, supplies, food, fuel. It’s just another way to kill more Palestinians," she continued.
Syed noted that both she and her colleague had been "extremely vocal" about Israel’s policies in Gaza, and that them being banned ensured "we could not continue to speak out about the truth".
"This is a pattern that we saw back in March…at that time they prevented many doctors from going in before they heavily bombarded Gaza City and the Strip. We’re seeing that now, the time of my entry was right before they had launched a ground invasion into Gaza City," she added.
She said it was an attempt to "keep foreigners out so they have less chance of exposing what they are doing to people in Gaza".
The barring of the medical professionals comes as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to occupy Gaza, starting with Gaza City. This would see Palestinians forcibly displaced to "concentration zones" in the south of the enclave.
However, the heavy bombardment of the area means that civilians are unable to flee to safe places or shelters, as attacks continue across the enclave.
"I feel that I have let down my colleagues in Gaza, they were waiting for me and their colleagues to give them some form of medical relief. We travel not only with life-saving skills but with medical supplies and food. This time I was carrying newborn formula, plasma exchange filters which are desperately needed – this is just another way to stop us from helping the healthcare system," Syed said.
The blocking of the medical workers comes as the UN and other international organisations have noted that at least 17,000 children suffer from malnutrition in Gaza currently, with deaths expected to accelerate rapidly if urgent assistance is not allowed in.
This week, a truck carrying baby formula to Gaza was turned back at a border crossing, after the driver was told the issue was the truck was an open one and not a closed one.
According to Haaretz, a source involved in the group confirmed that this rule had never been mentioned before.
A week earlier, the UN said it submitted 79 requests for permits for emergency aid, but only 45 requests were approved.
Earlier this month, international journalists called on Israel to allow media workers into Gaza, as warnings of famine grew.
"Unrestricted, independent access for foreign journalists is urgently needed, not only to document the unfolding atrocities but to ensure that the truth of this war is not dictated by those who control the weapons and the narrative," the Freedom To Report petition said.
Israel has banned foreign journalists' access to Gaza unless embedded with the Israeli military, with movement strictly controlled.
Palestinian journalists continue to report from the territory, but their lack of reach compared to foreign media workers has led to accusations of Israel committing genocide in the dark.