operating

Israel says it will ban MSF from operating in Gaza | Israel-Palestine conflict News

Medical charity has been barred for not providing Israeli authorities with personal details of its staff in the enclave.

Israel says it will terminate the humanitarian operations in Gaza of Doctors Without Borders, known by its French acronym MSF, after it failed to provide a list of its Palestinian staff, further depriving Palestinians in the besieged enclave of life-saving assistance.

In December, Israel announced it would prevent 37 aid organisations, including MSF, from working in Gaza from March 1 for failing to submit detailed information about their Palestinian employees, drawing widespread condemnation from NGOs and the United Nations.

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“The Ministry of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism is moving to terminate the activities of Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) in the Gaza Strip,” the ministry said on Sunday.

The decision followed “MSF’s failure to submit lists of local employees, a requirement applicable to all humanitarian organisations operating in the region”, it added.

The ministry had earlier alleged that two MSF employees had links with Palestinian groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad, which the charity has denied.

On Sunday, the ministry said MSF had committed in early January to sharing the staff list as required by the Israeli authorities but ultimately refrained, citing concerns for staff safety and a lack of assurances over how the information would be used.

“Subsequently, MSF announced it does not intend to proceed with the registration process at all, contradicting its previous statements and the binding protocol,” the ministry added, saying, “MSF will cease its operations and depart the Gaza Strip by February 28.”

Israel’s decision to terminate MSF’s operations in Gaza “is an extension of Israel’s systematic weaponisation and instrumentalisation of aid”, James Smith, an emergency physician based in London, told Al Jazeera.

“Israel has systematically targeted the Palestinian healthcare system, killing more than 1,700 Palestinian healthcare workers,” thereby “creating a profound dependency on international organisations”, Smith said.

MSF said 15 of its employees have been killed over the course of Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza, which began on October 7, 2023.

MSF has long been a key provider of medical and humanitarian aid in the enclave, particularly since the war began.

The charity said it currently provides at least 20 percent of hospital beds in the territory and operates about 20 health centres.

In 2025 alone, it carried out more than 800,000 medical consultations and more than 10,000 infant deliveries. It also provides drinking water.

Aid groups warned that without international support provided by organisations such as MSF, critical services such as emergency care, maternal healthcare and paediatric treatment could collapse entirely in Gaza, leaving hundreds of thousands of residents without basic medical care.

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Home Plus desperate for emergency operating funds

The head office of Home Plus in Seoul. The troubled discount chain has asked for
emergency operating funds from its shareholder and creditor. Photo courtesy of Home Plus

SEOUL, Jan. 26 (UPI) — South Korea’s cash-strapped discount chain Home Plus said Monday that it was waiting for an infusion of $210 million emergency operating funds from its stakeholders and state-run Korea Development Bank.

The retailer requested its shareholder, MBK Partners, creditor Meritz Financial Group, and KDB each to provide $70 million to help the company stay afloat while it searches for a new owner.

MBK Partners has pledged to offer its share of the funding, but Meritz and KDB have yet to disclose their positions, according to Home Plus.

Speaking at a National Assembly meeting last Wednesday, Home Plus CEO Joh Joo-yun said that the company is in a grave situation.

“Deliveries to Home Plus stores have plunged to about half their previous levels,” she said. “If emergency funding is not secured within January, we may be unable to pay employee wages or even settle payments for merchandise.”

Under such circumstances, Joh worried that it might be impossible to achieve a turnaround.

Meanwhile, the Seoul Central District Court earlier this month rejected prosecutors’ requests for arrest warrants for MBK Partners Chairman Michael Byungjoo Kim and other executives from the private equity fund and its portfolio company Home Plus.

Prosecutors sought to detain them in connection with asset-backed bonds issued by Home Plus in February, shortly before the firm filed for court receivership in early March.

They argued that such conduct may have exposed investors to potential losses, constituting fraud and violations of the relevant laws.

However, the court stressed the need to ensure that the suspects have sufficient opportunity to defend themselves without being held in custody.

In 2015, MBK took over Home Plus from Tesco in a deal valued at roughly $5 billion. In recent years, the retailer has faced mounting difficulties due to the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic and intensifying competition from e-commerce rivals.

Against this backdrop, Home Plus has sought to find a new buyer, but such efforts have so far made little progress.

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