Refusing Entry of International Medical Volunteers to Gaza

Photo: Wix media

In October and December 2025 we sent three appeals to the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories and others regarding the refusal to allow the entry of volunteer doctors from around the world to the Gaza Strip. The three doctors on whose behalf we appealed had previously volunteered in Gaza before being refused entry. They hold American and British passports and there is no claim that they pose a security risk. Instead, the issue is that they expressed sharp criticism of Israel and accused it of committing war crimes. 

In the appeals, Attorney Reut Shaer, director of the Human Rights in the Occupied Territories Department, argued that the refusal to allow the doctors to enter Gaza is part of a policy aimed at making difficult or impossible for humanitarian workers and medical personnel to enter the Gaza Strip. This policy contravenes the legal obligation to enable the provision of humanitarian aid, and medical treatment in particular, to civilians subject to combat conditions or subject to occupation rule, and drastically infringes on the right to life and the right to health at a time when the medical system in Gaza is collapsing. Moreover, decisions regarding the entry of the doctors were made without conducting any inquiry or hearing and without justification, in a manner that raises serious concerns that extraneous and non-substantive considerations were taken into account. 

In the appeals, we demanded that the doctors be permitted to enter Gaza, or that a reasoned decision be provided regarding the refusal. We also demanded the establishment of a system for doctors requesting entry into Gaza that includes, among other things, the ability to submit applications in advance, a requirement to render a decision at least 21 days in advance, written justification for any rejection, the right to a hearing, and a timetable of 14 days for handling appeals. We also demanded the establishment and publication of a directive stating that giving testimony, voicing criticism, or providing information about the state of the healthcare system or the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip does not constitute grounds for rejecting applications from medical personnel to enter Gaza. 

Appeal regarding Dr. R. from Britain, December 14, 2025 (Heb)