Video doesn’t show Doctors Without Borders medic aiding West Bank fighting

In the weeks since the Israel-Hamas war’s onset, violence has also erupted in the West Bank. But some social media users are misconstruing emerging war footage.

A Nov. 9 Instagram post by Israeli model Nataly Dadon claimed that a video showed a medic with Doctors Without Borders, the charity that provides humanitarian medical aid during conflicts worldwide, taking political sides in the war.

"In this video taken today in Jenin," she wrote, "a medic from ‘Doctors Without Borders’ went to a terrorist who was shot by the (Israel Defense Forces), lifted him up and took his weapon then brought it to another terrorist. Basically he abused his position as a medic, which the IDF cannot shoot, to break the law and assist terrorists to get a weapon."

The video showed a video of a man in an orange vest taking an assault rifle from a man lying on the ground, then running toward the left side of the screen. It’s hard to make out what happened next, because the camera bounces around as the man in the vest stumbles. Another person in a striped shirt then runs into view toward the person wearing the vest. The moving camera does not capture a weapon being handed from one person to another. But the man in the striped shirt is soon seen shooting with a weapon that looks like the one the man with the vest had retrieved.

Text on the video read, "Doctors Without Borders."

(Screengrab from Instagram)

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However, the man in the orange vest, identified by the post as a medic, is not affiliated with Doctors Without Borders, or Médecins Sans Frontières as it is known in French, a spokesperson for the organization told PolitiFact.

"The person depicted in the video is clearly not wearing an MSF logo or any other identification related to MSF. MSF staff do not wear orange vests seen in the video," Doctors Without Borders spokesperson Brienne Prusak said.

Doctors Without Borders staff wear white vests with the organization’s red logo to identify themselves as medical personnel.

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The Associated Press and Lead Stories reported that the orange vest seen in the video matches the ones worn by the Palestinian Medical Relief Society, which works in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem. Pictures from The Associated Press, Getty Images and the Palestinian Medical Relief Society’s Facebook page show vests in use that resemble the one worn by the man in the Instagram video. They are orange with black and light colored stripes and feature a circular insignia on the back.

It’s unclear whether the man in the video works for the Palestinian Medical Relief Society or if he is just wearing the group’s orange vest.

Additionally, Doctors Without Borders said its staff does not provide services in the area shown in the video.

"In Jenin, MSF supports the emergency room of the Ministry of Health Hospital and supports the pre-hospital emergency," Prusak said. "Our MSF staff in Jenin do not carry out ambulatory services. We do not treat people outside in the streets."

Doctors Without Borders was founded in 1971 with the goal of providing emergency medical aid "quickly, effectively and impartially," its website says. It describes itself as "independent, impartial and neutral," providing care based "solely on need, irrespective of race, religion, gender or political affiliation." The organization has called for a ceasefire so humanitarian aid can reach Gaza.

We rate the claim that a video shows a Doctors Without Borders medic in Jenin taking a weapon from one man and giving it to another False.