Mads Fredrik Gilbert (born 2 June 1947) is a Norwegian physician, humanitarian, activist, and politician for the Red Party.

Gilbert has a broad range of experience from international humanitarian work, especially in locations where medical and political issues merge.

[6] On 6 May 2013, King Harald V appointed Gilbert as a Commander of the Order of St. Olav for his "wide-ranging services to emergency medicine.

[9][10][11] In November 2014, it was announced that Israel had indefinitely banned Gilbert from entering Gaza, officially for security reasons.

Israel, Haaretz wrote, is the only available transit point for entering the Gaza Strip when the Rafah border from Egypt is closed.

Following a skiing accident in May 1999, Anna Bågenholm was trapped for more than an hour in icy waters and was pronounced clinically dead, but survived after the resuscitation efforts of Gilbert and his team at the University Hospital of North Norway.

[21] Gilbert was awarded Årets nordlending 2000 ("Northern Norwegian of the year, 2000", by the readership of the Tromsø newspaper Nordlys.

[25] Gilbert arrived on emergency assignment for the Norwegian Aid Committee (NORWAC) with the surgeon Erik Fosse to support the humanitarian effort at al-Shifa Hospital during the 2008–2009 Israel–Gaza conflict,[26][27][28] a period when Israel barred foreign journalists from entering the Gaza Strip.

[26] Following a grenade strike to a Gaza City vegetable market on 3 January, Gilbert sent an SMS text to his Norwegian and international contacts, with an appeal for all who read it to pass it on.

We're living in the history books now, all of us!The ensuing response sparked reports of Gilbert's message on a global scale,[36] and scores of declarations of support to the Norwegian Palestine Committee.

Gilbert stated that an overwhelming majority of the casualties he had treated were civilians, and women and children alone made up 25% of the death toll, and 45% of the wounded.

On 11 January 2009, Prime Minister (now NATO Secretary-General) Jens Stoltenberg stated that he had called Gilbert and Fosse to "thank them and recognize the work they have done to alleviate the suffering of the people of Gaza since 31 December last year.

"[45] Labour Party Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre and former conservative Prime Minister Kåre Willoch both wrote endorsements for Gilbert and Fosse's 2009 book Eyes in Gaza; Kåre Willoch wrote that "Israel held journalists away while subjecting the people of Gaza to unfathomable suffering.

"[48][49] Jensen was also criticized of hypocrisy and of supporting Israeli terror against Palestinians by former government minister Audun Lysbakken.

In an open letter to the medical journal The Lancet, Gilbert and Fosse described the Gaza situation as a "nightmarish havoc", stating that they had "witnessed the most horrific war injuries in men, women and children of all ages in numbers almost too large to comprehend".

[50] Gilbert rejected Palmor's remarks and stated "If Israel think we are lying, they can just open the borders and let the world's press into Gaza.

"[54] The incident was described by Nordlys editor Hans Kristian Amundsen as "probably the stupidest thing he's ever done", citing it as proof that Gilbert is a "hopeless politician".

[2] In an interview with the Norwegian news agency NTB in 2009, Gilbert described his own statements in the aftermath of 9/11 as "unwise and ill-considered", stressing that he is completely against terror against civilians.

On behalf of the government, Under-Secretary of State in the Foreign Ministry Bård Glad Pedersen said that "Gilbert has for many years played an important role in assisting the Palestinian health care system, and his travels to Gaza are vital to continue this work.

"[64] The Labour Party secretary Raymond Johansen said that "Israel's punishment of medical staff who make a vital contribution in a war situation seems like a desperate act.

[65] [15] Gilbert criticized and encouraged people to boycott Médecins Sans Frontières in 2006 for not taking a position on conflicts, saying he would "not give a dime" to the annual Norwegian TV-aksjonen, a national collection charity of the state broadcaster NRK.

[2][66] Previously, in 2001, the leader of the Norwegian branch of Médecins Sans Frontières had sharply criticised Gilbert for voicing support to the 11 September terror attacks, stating that doctors with "such attitudes" could "never become a member of the organisation".

[67][68] In a speech held in South Africa, Gilbert drew criticism for his statements on the 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel.

He described the Hamas forces as brave: "That is what happened when the Palestinian resistance broke out of Gaza and attacked the occupier on his own ground.