Doctors Without Borders Admits Terrorists Are Using Gaza’s Nasser Hospital

The Nasser Hospital in Gaza reacted indignantly to the accusation by Doctors Without Borders — known by its French name, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) — that armed men have been witnessed roaming the facility. In a statement issued on February 16, the hospital responded that MSF’s “allegations are factually incorrect, irresponsible, and pose a serious risk to a protected civilian medical facility.”

A week earlier, an unprecedented statement from MSF announced that the medical charity had suspended “all non-critical medical operations in Nasser Hospital” in the city of Khan Yunis as of January 20 after staff “reported a pattern of unacceptable acts in areas of the large hospital compound.” These included “the presence of armed men, some of them masked; intimidation; arbitrary arrests of patients; and a recent situation involving the suspected movement of weapons.”

Throughout the war in Gaza, MSF denied Israeli claims that terrorists from Hamas and other groups were using hospitals, including Nasser, as operational bases. Such activities may yet jeopardize the fragile truce, especially if Hamas uses medical facilities as launchpads for future attacks against Israel.

Nasser Hospital Condemns MSF Decision

Nasser Hospital officials countered MSF’s claim by saying that the presence of armed men “is protective, civilian, and lawful, and does not constitute military activity or armed-group use of the hospital.”

Yet accounts from Gazans who use the facility suggest otherwise. One man told The Wall Street Journal that a Hamas patrol had seized him off the street and held him in the orthopedics department of the hospital. Another said that Hamas had detained him inside the hospital for 12 hours.

Gaza-Based Terrorists’ Historic Exploitation of Hospitals

The IDF said that it “possesses intelligence indicating that Nasser Hospital is being used as a headquarters and military post for senior Hamas commanders and operatives in southern Gaza.” However, Israel’s options for any action against the terrorists are constrained because the hospital lies in Hamas-controlled territory west of the “Yellow Line,” which separates Israeli-held areas from those under Hamas control.

Israeli special forces first entered Nasser Hospital in February 2024, detaining hundreds of terror operatives, including some disguised as medical staff. The IDF reported at the time finding medication packages with the names of Israeli hostages abducted during the October 7, 2023, mass atrocities written on them, Israeli cars stolen during the onslaught, and large quantities of weapons, including rifles, mortars, and grenades, located within the hospital grounds.

Palestinian terrorists’ use of hospitals in Gaza is well documented. In November 2023, a Hamas commander held Gazans hostage at the Rantisi Hospital in northern Gaza. The New York Times concluded that Hamas used Shifa Hospital to store weapons and had a tunnel beneath the medical compound. A January 2024 report corroborated this report, citing American intelligence assessments that the U.S. was “confident” that Gazan terrorists had been using Shifa Hospital as a command and control hub, and a location to hold Israeli hostages.  

Former IDF Spokesman Adm. Daniel Hagari stated during operations at Nasser Hospital in 2024 that the IDF possessed intelligence that Hamas was using “over 85 percent of major medical facilities in Gaza” throughout the war. Even in October 2025, at the onset of the ongoing ceasefire, Hamas fighters seized the Jordanian Field Hospital in Gaza City.

U.S Must Apply the Shields Act Designation Against Gaza Terrorist Groups

In 2018, the United States enacted the “Sanctioning the Use of Civilians as Defenseless Shields Act” (“Shields Act”). The legislation enables the president of the United States to impose financial sanctions on members of Hamas who knowingly use or order the use of civilians as human shields. The law remains as pertinent as ever.

Washington should coordinate closely with Israel through joint intelligence sharing to identify Hamas and other terror operatives utilizing Gaza’s civilian infrastructure — including Nasser Hospital — for terror purposes, and levy sanctions against those individuals under the Shields Act. Formal designations would highlight the practice of using human shields, help counter Hamas’s efforts to portray IDF operations at hospitals as unjustified, and reinforce international law protecting medical facilities within conflict zones.

Aaron Goren is a research analyst and editor at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD). For more analysis from Aaron and FDD, please subscribe HERE. Follow Aaron on X @RealAaronGoren. Follow FDD on X @FDD. FDD is a Washington, DC-based, nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy.