A PRO-ISRAEL lobbying group has called on the Home Secretary to ban one of the world’s leading health charities under terrorism laws.
UK Lawyers for Israel has demanded Shabana Mahmood proscribe the Nobel Peace Prize-winning charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), known in English as Doctors Without Borders, over alleged links to Palestinian militant groups.
The charity condemned "the intentional spread of false allegations".
Fadi Jihad Mohammed al-Wadiya, a physiotherapist killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza in 2024 was claimed by Palestine Islamic Jihad after his death.
In an update on MSF’s website, the charity said: “On 24 February 2026, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) publicly stated that Fadi Al Wadiya had been a member of the group.
“MSF had no indication that Fadi Al Wadiya might have been involved in military activity of any kind prior to his killing by the Israeli Forces.
“If the Israeli authorities had any reliable information about Fadi’s involvement in military activity, they never shared it with MSF either prior to his killing or when we reached out immediately after he was killed to ask for clarifications around the circumstances of his death.
“We would never knowingly employ people engaging in military activity.
“Any employee who engages in military activity would pose a danger to our staff and patients.”
Nasser Hamdi Abdelatif Al Shalfouh, an MSF driver who was killed in an Israeli airstrike in October 2024 at the age of 31, was accused by Israel after his death of being a Hamas sniper.
Israel has falsely accused people of being members of Palestinian militant groups and a report in August last year found that the country’s military had a dedicated unit to smear journalists as being members of Hamas.
There was at least one case where a journalist was falsely represented as a militant.
UK Lawyers for Israel said there were “serious questions about people employed by MSF”.
A spokesperson for the group told The Telegraph: “British donors giving money to MSF are entitled to expect the highest possible standards of vetting and due diligence, particularly where substantial sums are being transferred into territory controlled by Hamas.
“The evidence we have assembled raises serious questions about people employed by MSF, the organisations with which it works and whether adequate safeguards have been put in place to ensure that charitable resources cannot be exploited by terrorist organisations.
“We are not questioning legitimate humanitarian medical work. But humanitarian status cannot place an organisation beyond proper scrutiny.
“We have therefore asked the Charity Commission and Fundraising Regulator to investigate MSF UK, and have submitted our evidence to the Home Secretary for consideration under the Terrorism Act.”
An MSF spokesperson told the paper: “MSF unequivocally refutes the allegations made by the Israeli authorities that we knowingly hired people with ‘ties to terrorism’. MSF would never knowingly employ anyone involved in military activities, which contradicts our core values and ethics.
“The MSF staff members whom Israel has alleged to have ‘ties to terrorism’ were only reported as such to our organisation after they had been killed. If Israeli authorities had reliable information about any MSF staff involvement in military activity, they never shared it with us before their deaths.
“For months, MSF has been the target of a disinformation campaign, and we strongly condemn the intentional spread of false allegations.”
The Charity Commission said it was assessing the allegations and the Fundraising Regulator also said it was looking into the matter.
