MSF rejects 'false' claims behind UK Lawyers for Israel's move to ban charity

A pro-Israel legal group has urged the UK government to ban Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) over alleged links to Palestinian militants - claims the medical charity says form part of a campaign of disinformation against its work in Gaza.

UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) has written to Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood asking her to consider proscribing MSF under the Terrorism Act, while also filing complaints against the charity with the Charity Commission and Fundraising Regulator, according to The Daily Telegraph.

Proscription would make membership of or support for MSF - one of the most prominent medical charities in the world - a criminal offence potentially punishable by up to 14 years in prison.

UKLFI's case centres partly on Fadi Jihad Mohammed al-Wadiya, an MSF physiotherapist killed in an Israeli air strike in Gaza City in June 2024.

MSF condemned his killing and challenged Israeli claims that he was a member of Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ).

However, in February this year, PIJ publicly identified al-Wadiya as a member and described him as a "martyr commander" and deputy head of its military manufacturing unit.

MSF subsequently acknowledged PIJ's statement but said there was no indication while employing al-Wadiya that he was engaged in military activity.

The charity said Israel had never provided evidence of the allegations before killing him, nor when MSF sought clarification following his death.

"We would never knowingly employ people engaging in military activity," MSF said.

"Any employee who engages in military activity would pose a danger to our staff and patients."

UKLFI's statement also cited Israeli allegations that another MSF employee, Nasser Hamdi Abdelatif Al Shalfouh, was a sniper with Hamas's Jabalia battalion, according to The Telegraph,.

UKLFI claimed that the cases raise questions about MSF's vetting and whether money donated in the UK could benefit people associated with proscribed organisations.

MSF unequivocally rejected allegations that it knowingly employed people engaged in military activity.

"For months, MSF has been the target of a disinformation campaign, and we strongly condemn the intentional spread of false allegations," it told The Telegraph.

MSF says its recruitment procedures include background and reference checks, CV verification and probationary periods, with enhanced screening and vetting introduced in Gaza.

The organisation has also acted when armed activity threatened medical neutrality, suspending non-critical activities at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis earlier this year after staff reported armed men, intimidation, arbitrary arrests and suspected movement of weapons.

The demand comes amid criticism of UKLFI's own use of legal and regulatory complaints against organisations and individuals involved in Palestine advocacy.

In May, the Public Interest Law Centre (PILC) and European Legal Support Center (ELSC) lodged a complaint with the Bar Standards Board concerning three senior barristers who are patrons of UKLFI.

They accused UKLFI of engaging in "lawfare" against Palestine solidarity organisations and using legal and regulatory mechanisms to intimidate groups supporting Palestinian rights.

Its attempt to have MSF banned comes as the charity has become an increasingly prominent witness to Israel's destruction of Gaza, documenting attacks on healthcare, the killing of medical workers, forced displacement, starvation and restrictions on humanitarian aid.

MSF has explicitly described Israel's actions as genocide, saying it is "systematically destroying the conditions necessary for Palestinian life".

"In short, we are witnessing a genocide," the organisation has said.

MSF UK has also accused the British government of enabling Israel's actions.

"Genocide is being committed in Gaza. And the UK Government is complicit," it said in a July 2025 letter to then Prime Minister Keir Starmer and then-foreign secretary David Lammy, calling for an end to UK military cooperation and arms transfers to Israel.

Fifteen MSF employees have been killed in Gaza since the beginning of Israel's assault, according to the organisation.