In December 2024, Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya was illegally abducted by the Israeli military during the raid on Kamal Adwan Hospital. This was one of the last functioning hospitals in Gaza, and Israel destroyed it and kidnapped its leadership, preventing Palestinians suffering from starvation and injured in Israel's bombings from receiving medical treatment. Now, Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya is locked away in one of Israel’s most dangerous prisons and has been held with no charge for over a year.
In the beginning months of 2026, the genocidal U.S.-Israeli alliance has expanded its barbarity in the region. Just like in Gaza, they are deliberately attacking Iran and Lebanon's healthcare infrastructure. Hospitals are being destroyed, clinics bombed, and doctors detained. Now, they have legalized the execution of Palestinians by hanging. Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya is one of the first on the list to be targeted by this new barbaric law.
The situation is only getting worse for Dr. Hussam. CODEPINK and the Free Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya Coalition urge the American Medical Association's CEO, John Whyte, and Board of Trustees President, Bobby Mukkamala, to take action against genocide. The AMA must speak out for its colleagues who are being attacked with U.S. tax dollars. Sign the petition!
Dear CEO John Whyte, and Board of Trustees President Bobby Mukkamala,
CODEPINK and the Free Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya Coalition urge the American Medical Association (AMA) to release a statement and work towards the release of Dr. Abu Safiya. It has been over a year since the Israeli military abducted Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, the director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in Gaza, after unlawfully raiding the medical complex and shutting it down. It was one of the only functioning hospitals remaining in Gaza at the time. Israel has provided no concrete evidence for their brutal abduction of Dr. Abu Safiya, and they've held him without charge in one of Israel’s most notoriously violent prisons.
The U.S. and Israel have expanded their imperial, genocidal campaign by declaring an illegal war on Iran. In the first 10 days of bombardment, 29 clinics have been damaged, 10 of them completely shut down; 52 health centers, 18 emergency service locations, and 15 ambulances have also been targeted and destroyed. In Lebanon, with ramped-up efforts from Israel to ethnically cleanse the land, there has been a reported “systematic targeting of ambulance teams.”
The ongoing attacks on health infrastructure in Iran and Lebanon are not disconnected from the imprisonment of Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya. These deliberate attacks that seek to destroy the people and the institutions that sustain life for entire populations are part of a larger plan to clear the way for U.S. imperialism and Zionist colonization. Now, Israel has legalized the execution of Palestinian prisoners by hanging. Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya is one of the first on the list to be targeted by this new barbaric law that seeks to eliminate even more Palestinians unjustifiably.
The AMA must speak out against the targeting of healthcare systems and its personnel— it's an assault on everything the organization supposedly stands for.
The organization has leverage nationally and internationally. It should publicly condemn the U.S. and Israel's continuous targeting and killing of medical professionals and structures in Gaza, Lebanon, and Iran. Dr. Abu Safiya is but one example. Thousands of paramedics, nurses, and other doctors have been killed in Israel’s numerous attacks on hospitals and medical centers.
The AMA's stated mission is to "promote the art and science of medicine and the betterment of public health." To actually achieve this, you must fight for every physician and every hospital. We ask that you call for the release of Dr. Abu Safiya and detained healthcare workers, urge U.S. and Israeli action on his status, demand access to medical care and humanitarian aid for Gaza, push to lift U.S. visa restrictions for patients, and condemn the destruction of healthcare systems from Gaza to Iran.