MSF condemns Israel's closure of probes into attacks killing 4 staff

GENEVA: Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has strongly criticized the Israeli authorities for closing two cases related to attacks that resulted in the deaths of four of its staff members. The incidents took place in Gaza City in November 2023 and Khan Younis in February 2024, where attacks on an MSF convoy and an MSF shelter respectively resulted in fatalities.

MSF submitted its requests to investigate these cases nearly two years ago, but the Israeli military prosecutor failed to respond to its formal requests, prompting the organization to petition the Israeli Supreme Court. MSF described the closure of these cases as unjust and unacceptable, particularly in a system where a military institution is responsible for investigating its own actions.

This decision highlights the system's unwillingness to address potential war crimes in Gaza. MSF staff members and their families have been killed by Israeli forces despite the organization notifying authorities of their locations, and the vehicles involved were clearly marked with MSF's emblem. The organization's decision to call for a review by an independent and impartial body comes after 15 of its staff members have been killed by Israeli forces in Gaza since October 2023, and around 1,700 healthcare workers have been killed overall.

MSF emphasizes that no military objective can justify the mass killing of civilians and stresses that an internal military review cannot replace genuine, independent, and impartial accountability.