World · Middle East · 1 day ago
Doctors urge World Medical Association to suspend Israeli medical group
Hundreds of doctors gathered outside a World Medical Association summit in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, to call for the Israeli Medical Association to be suspended from the group.
The protest included 81 healthcare workers who hung up scrubs bearing the names of Palestinian health workers held in Israeli detention.
The campaign behind the demonstration says the Israeli association has failed to speak out as Palestinian healthcare has been destroyed.
It says more than 6,500 health workers worldwide signed a petition calling for suspension.
The campaign also called for accountability over the treatment of Palestinian prisoners, including doctor Hussam Abu Safia, who led Gaza’s Kamal Adwan Hospital and remains detained.
The protest comes amid the destruction of hospitals and the deaths of Palestinian healthcare workers in Gaza since October 2023.
The World Medical Association has not announced a decision on the demand in the information provided.
Hundreds of doctors gathered outside a World Medical Association summit in Rotterdam, calling for the suspension of the Israeli Medical Association.
The IMA Out! coalition accused the Israeli association of failing to speak out as Palestinian healthcare was destroyed.
On Saturday, 81 healthcare workers hung scrubs bearing the names of Palestinian healthcare workers held in Israeli detention.
The campaign said it delivered a petition signed by more than 6,500 health workers calling for the IMA’s suspension.
The Israeli Medical Association’s response was not included in the article.
- Who
- Hundreds of doctors and healthcare workers, including members of the IMA Out! coalition.
- What
- They called on the World Medical Association to suspend the Israeli Medical Association.
- When
- The protest took place on Saturday. The article was published on October 10, 2026.
- Where
- Outside the World Medical Association summit in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
- Why
- The campaign accused the Israeli association of remaining silent and defending attacks as Palestinian healthcare was destroyed.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
These scrubs should not be empty. Our colleagues belong with their patients, not in Israeli prisons. Today, we literally placed their names at the WMA’s doorstep,
The IMA is not a bystander. It defends these attacks and blocks international condemnation while Palestinian healthcare is being destroyed. That is not medical neutrality. That is complicity,
Thirty years of WMA dialogue with the IMA has done nothing but give the IMA a sense of impunity … It is time for national medical associations and the WMA to speak out and take action. Break your ties with the IMA and suspend the IMA from the WMA now,
My father and all Palestinian detainees must be treated in accordance with medical ethics, and doctors must abide by the Hippocratic oath they have taken. Care cannot be given based on whose life is deemed worthy.
A meeting during the WMA summit discussed the destruction of Palestinian healthcare and the international medical community’s responsibility.
81 healthcare workers hung scrubs bearing the names of Palestinian healthcare workers held in Israeli detention outside the WMA assembly in Rotterdam.
- Protest location
- Rotterdam, the Netherlands
- Scrubs displayed
- 81
- Petition signatories
- More than 6,500 health workers
- Healthcare workers killed in Gaza since October 2023
- More than 1,700
- Summit body
- World Medical Association
Sources
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