BRITISH and US medics are raising the alarm after they were denied re-entry into Gaza after they spoke out against Israel’s genocide.

They have claimed that rates of refusal have increased for medical organisations providing critical humanitarian aid to the survivors of Israel’s brutal military assault on Gaza since October 2023.

Medics described having their applications to enter the strip arbitrarily denied without being given a clear reason for being blocked.

Many have since said Israel has denied them entry after they have first-hand experience of their time in Gaza since 2023, while others told the Guardian they believed their identity of prior experience in the territory played a factor in the refusal.

Israel is bound by international law to allow and facilitate the unimpeded and rapid passage of humanitarian aid into Gaza.

Its registration guidelines for NGOs and foreign staff include questions asking if applicants have participated in a boycott of Israel.

Emergency doctor James Smith travelling with Medical Aid for Palestinians has not been able to return to the territory since 2024 following two entry refusals in 2025 without being given a reason.

“I can only assume that it was elements of my public profile, because I’m otherwise a white, middle-class, British man with no Palestinian heritage, no criminal convictions,” he told the Guardian.

He added that he had recently spoken to media outlets “in a particular way” which may have “rattled them.”

Consultant surgeon Khaled Dawas said it was clear that anyone who had been outspoken about the brutality of the conflict was denied entry.

He was blocked twice with two separate organisations.

“I can’t think of anything else,” he told the newspaper. “I’m not military. I don’t carry anything. I’m no different to the colleagues who have gone in.

“The only difference is that they haven’t spoken up as much.”

Israeli military agency Cogat, which controls access to Gaza, said the claims were “false and unfounded.”

MAP along with 53 other international organisations warned at the start of the year that changes to the registration system would impede vital humanitarian work.

On December 30 2025, 37 international NGOs were given notice from Israeli authorities that their registrations to work in the Palestinian territories would expire the next day, giving them 60 days to cease all operations in Gaza, the West Bank and Jerusalem.