UK doctors cut ties with Israeli medical body over Gaza genocide
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Citing complicity in war crimes and failure to uphold medical ethics, UK doctors take a stand against "Israel" by backing BDS and suspending institutional ties.
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In this image taken from a video released by the Israeli Forces on Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2023, Israeli soldiers attack al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City. (AP)
The British Medical Association (BMA) has voted overwhelmingly to suspend its ties with the Israeli Medical Association (IMA), citing the IMA’s failure to condemn attacks on Gaza’s healthcare system amid the ongoing Israeli genocide.
Passed with over 80% support at the BMA’s annual conference in Liverpool, the resolution reflects growing international support for the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement and intensifying calls to hold Israeli institutions accountable for complicity in violations of international law.
The motion demands that ties remain suspended until the IMA upholds principles of medical neutrality and explicitly condemns the systematic targeting of Gaza’s medical infrastructure. Some members advocated for even stronger action, including expelling the IMA from the World Medical Association (WMA).
Dr. Fareed Al-Qusous, a 26-year-old British physician of Jordanian descent who supported the resolution, explained, “As physicians, our duty is to protect patients and healthcare facilities. The IMA remained silent on Israeli airstrikes that devastated Gaza’s hospitals, while swiftly condemning Iran’s strike on Soroka Medical Center. This double standard cannot be ignored.”
Mounting pressure on Israeli institutions
Though the resolution is now official BMA policy, implementation details remain under discussion. The IMA is engaged in behind-the-scenes diplomacy, seeking to limit fallout amid fears the move could spark a wider wave of professional boycotts.
IMA Chairman Professor Zion Hagai admitted the vote could set a precedent. “This is a declarative step that could encourage other countries to adopt similar measures. We're trying to prevent that first domino from falling.”
Hagai also acknowledged that since October 7, anti-"Israel" sentiment has intensified across international medical forums, with some Israeli doctors being disinvited from conferences. “We’re talking to organizers, explaining why boycotting Israel is the wrong path,” he said, adding that the IMA is appealing to the WMA and other bodies to shield itself from broader isolation.
BDS gains momentum in the medical field
The BMA’s move represents a rare and significant alignment of the medical establishment with the goals of the BDS movement, which seeks to end international complicity in "Israel’s" violations of Palestinian rights.
The BMA resolution was triggered by repeated Israeli airstrikes on hospitals, ambulances, and clinics in Gaza, acts widely condemned by human rights organizations.
Dr. Al-Qusous added, “If the IMA recommits to medical neutrality, ties can be restored.”
“As a doctor, I focus on the humanitarian dimension. I want accountability on all sides and real aid for the people of Gaza, who are enduring unimaginable suffering,” he emphasized.
Wider context
Since October 2023, the ongoing Israeli genocide in Gaza has devastated the enclave’s healthcare system, leaving hospitals in ruins, medical infrastructure dismantled, and healthcare workers systematically targeted. Nearly every major hospital in the Gaza Strip, including al-Shifa, al-Quds, Nasser, and al-Awda, has been struck by airstrikes or damaged in ground invasions, rendering most facilities either non-functional or destroyed.
Operating under siege conditions, with no access to electricity, fuel, or essential medical supplies, Gaza’s medical staff have faced relentless Israeli attacks. Dozens of Palestinian doctors have been killed, while others have been detained, tortured, or forcibly disappeared by Israeli forces in what human rights organizations describe as a campaign to dismantle Gaza’s capacity for emergency care.
One of the most harrowing cases is that of Dr. Adnan al-Bursh, who was killed while in detention in the Israeli Ofer prison. Martyr al-Bursh was a resident of Jabalia, northern Gaza. He was detained by the Israeli forces in January 2024 while carrying out his duties at Al-Awda Hospital with his staff.
Information obtained by Palestinian civil affairs confirms that Dr. al-Bursh was martyred in "Israel’s" Ofer prison on April 19, 2024. His body remains withheld by Israeli authorities. Al-Bursh, a prominent orthopedic surgeon, had reportedly sustained injuries months earlier while working at the Indonesian Hospital in Gaza, underscoring the dire conditions facing medical professionals under Israeli occupation.
Another emblematic case is that of Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, director of Kamal Adwan Hospital and a senior pediatric specialist who was reportedly blindfolded, beaten, and held in notorious Ofer prison without charge.
International observers and rights groups have condemned these actions as a deliberate effort to collapse Gaza’s healthcare system, turning hospitals into battlegrounds, criminalizing medical professionals, and denying urgent care to more than two million Palestinians trapped under siege and bombardment.
Read more: Death in every corner: Gaza toll mounts as medical sector collapses
