On December 27th, 2024 Israeli forces invaded Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza and burned the last remaining functional hospital in northern Gaza to the ground, drawing condemnation from various organizations including the World Health Organization. This latest assault has been a continuation of the ongoing Israeli barrage against the healthcare system in Gaza where less than half of the 140 square mile strip’s hospitals remain partially functional. In addition to the destruction of the hospital, Israeli forces also kidnapped its director, Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, who now many fear is being tortured given reports that Israeli forces have tortured Palestinian physicians to death in previous hospital raids.  
 

In response to the destruction of the hospital and the unlawful detention of Dr. Abu Safiya, healthcare workers of conscience across the globe have called for a worldwide healthcare worker mental health sick day on January 6th to protest the onslaught against the Gazan healthcare system that has also led to at least seven infants dying of hypothermia in the past week. Healthcare Workers for Palestine - Chicago supports all calls and actions to end the genocidal assault against Gaza’s healthcare system. We will be reviving pressure campaigns on our hospitals and medical institutions who have not had the courage or moral decency to support our healthcare worker colleagues attempting to practice and save lives under genocidal conditions. We will no longer tolerate the silence, nor the apathy towards Palestinian lives, by institutions that claim to be interested in the health and well-being of people.  
 

One such institution is the American Medical Association (AMA), who despite previously calling for ending assaults on healthcare workers in Ukraine, has been notably silent on advocating for the rights of Palestinian healthcare workers to practice safely. Despite various calls to support healthcare workers and to affirm Palestinians’ right to life and healthcare, the AMA has chosen to remain complicit in the deaths of Palestinians and the collapse of their healthcare system. The AMA and the healthcare systems that cannot be moved to action (or even words) by genocide do not represent the values they pretend to claim. So in 2025 we continue to reject their hypocrisy. It may be a new year, but we will not continue to accept the same old genocidal AMA.