The international medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) operates the only clinic in Gaza that can make the custom clear-plastic masks used to treat facial burns — but it says it has been barred by Israel from importing the plastic, and its remaining stock has now run out, Reuters reported from Cairo and Gaza on Friday, November 13.

Source: Reuters, Nov 13, 2026

The masks are 3D-printed to fit each patient's face and help manage swelling and control scarring. One patient, a six-year-old girl whose family's tent caught fire when a nearby cooking gas tank exploded in July, will soon outgrow the mask she wears. “Should there be no masks, my daughter will grow more scar tissue,” her mother told Reuters. “We would have to resort to surgery instead of masks, and there are no such surgeries in Gaza.”

Source: Reuters, Nov 13, 2026

“We have now exhausted our stock of plastic sheets and printer filament,” said Mohammed Al-Qatrawi, supervisor of physiotherapy for MSF France in Gaza. Technicians at the Gaza City clinic have been measuring patients' faces to see whether existing masks can be adjusted to last longer as children grow. If the mask no longer fits properly, he said, it could cause pain and limit the benefits.

Source: Reuters, Nov 13, 2026

The dispute over staff lists

The masks have become caught in a wider dispute between MSF and Israel over Israeli demands for information about local staff working for foreign groups. Israel has banned MSF's international staff from Gaza and barred the group from importing any supplies since the end of February, after MSF refused an Israeli demand to submit the names of all its local staff in Gaza. MSF says it cannot provide such lists without assurances that staff would be safe, because hundreds of medics have been killed during the war, Reuters reported.

Source: Reuters, Nov 13, 2026

COGAT, the unit of the Israeli military responsible for aid to Gaza, confirmed to Reuters that it had barred imports by MSF for failure to comply with requirements, including supplying staff lists needed to prevent “the misuse of humanitarian aid by terrorist organisations”. It said that unlike MSF, other aid groups had complied and were operating freely, that it had approved the entry of more than 24,000 tons of medical supplies into Gaza, and it rejected accusations that it was blocking medical aid.

Source: Reuters, Nov 13, 2026

“A child's mutilated face can no longer receive even a basic treatment, not because the technology or the expertise is lacking, but because Israel imposes a regime under which healing itself is a privilege,” Filipe Ribeiro, MSF's head of mission for Palestine, said in a message to Reuters.

Source: Reuters, Nov 13, 2026

Life inside the enclave

More than a year since a ceasefire halted major fighting in Gaza, the entire population of more than 2 million Palestinians lives confined to around a third of the tiny enclave's territory, mainly in makeshift tents and damaged buildings, Reuters reported. Israeli forces still control everything that enters and exits. Israel says it allows in all needed medical equipment and supplies, but many aid groups say restrictions make it impossible to provide basic treatment.

Source: Reuters, Nov 13, 2026

If the clinic were forced to halt its service, Al-Qatrawi said, patients would “develop scar-related complications that can affect speaking, eating, drinking, vision, and facial movement”, and children would face worse deformities. Neither side announced any change to the registration dispute in the reporting, and MSF staff are stretching the masks they have already made for as long as they can.

Source: Reuters, Nov 13, 2026