For half a century, Doctors Without Borders enjoyed an enviable reputation. They were known and respected for their work in war zones and disaster areas, where volunteers and employees treated the wounded and sick. Known globally as Médecins Sans Frontières, or MSF, the NGO built its credibility on the principle that doctors are there to save lives, not to wage political campaigns.
That reputation is now largely gone, and like other powerful groups in the NGO industry, MSF has become a major platform for political and ideological propaganda campaigns that often accompany wars and terror atrocities.
A major new report by the NGO Monitor research institute, which I founded and lead, documents how MSF has been transformed from a medical humanitarian organization into one of the most aggressive institutional promoters of anti-Israel messaging, most notably the canard that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.
Since Hamas' October 7, 2023 massacre, MSF and its regional affiliates have falsely accused Israel of "genocide" at least 272 times on social media. This disturbing fact should speak for itself – genocide is not a minor rhetorical flourish. The term was coined by Polish-Jewish jurist Raphael Lemkin to describe the deliberate destruction of a people in the gas chambers and killing fields of the Holocaust. Genocide carries extraordinary moral weight. Historically, and until recently, responsible institutions and individuals have used the term with great caution.
This is far from the only example of MSF's participation in demonization campaigns that are entirely inconsistent with the humanitarian agenda. On October 7, while Hamas terrorists were still murdering and raping civilians in Israel, dragging hostages into Gaza, and live-streaming their "conquests," MSF officials were accusing Israel of war crimes. This NGO's first statement reduced the largest mass murder of Jews since the Holocaust to a vague "escalation between Israel and Gaza."
That framing defined MSF's activities throughout the conflict and continues to this day, accompanied by blatantly false accusations.
For example, on October 17, 2023, an explosion occurred near Gaza's Al-Ahli Arab Hospital. MSF immediately issued statements describing the incident as a "massacre" and promoted physician Ghassan Abu-Sittah as a key witness blaming Israel. Dr. Ghassan Abu Sittah, an MSF-affiliated anti-Israel activist, participated in a grotesque press conference, organized by the Hamas-controlled Gaza Ministry of Health, to promote the libel.
Assessments by the United States, Canada and France, and an investigation by The New York Times, concluded the damage was caused by a misfired rocket launched by Palestinian Islamic Jihad, but the MSF-led campaign never retracted the lie, spread among millions of cumulative social media followers.
That failure matters because MSF's authority rests on public trust. When doctors on the ground speak, journalists, diplomats, and policymakers listen. And when the organization's statements promote the opposite of the humanitarian principles it purports to support, the consequences extend far beyond a single news cycle.
In Gaza, MSF's role in demonization and false accusations against Israel expanded. In December 2023, MSF's international president Christos Christou accused Israel of "incessant and indiscriminate warfare" and collective punishment. In October 2024, MSF described Israeli operations as "unmitigated slaughter."
These attacks were the prelude to the genocide canard.
In December 2024, MSF published a report titled "Life in a Death Trap," joining the hate-filled chorus alleging that Israel was carrying out ethnic cleansing and genocide. In a massive understatement, the text acknowledged that MSF lacked the legal expertise to determine genocidal intent – the central element of the crime under international law. But that disclaimer did not stop the organization from running with the libel. At least 272 times.
In parallel, MSF was deafeningly silent on Hamas' real war crimes: embedding of military (terrorist) infrastructure in hospitals (documented by NGO Monitor), schools, and civilian neighborhoods; the theft of humanitarian aid; and the continued holding of Israeli civilian hostages. Across MSF's international social media feeds, hostages were scarcely mentioned – appearing as the primary subject of only three posts out of hundreds.
The tragedy is that MSF did not need to choose between treating patients and becoming a partisan actor. Humanitarian groups can deliver aid while maintaining discipline, precision, and moral seriousness. Many do.
MSF chose the opposite path.
By embracing false and defamatory accusations, Doctors Without Borders and all who are associated with this NGO have undermined fundamental moral and humanitarian values. They have traded white coats and medical missions for hate slogans and lies.
Prof. Gerald M. Steinberg is founder and president of NGO Monitor.
