International Medical Workers Decry Israel's 'Deliberate Assault' on Their Gaza Colleagues

More than 120 doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals from around the world who have worked in Gaza since late 2023 published a letter on Wednesday expressing solidarity with their Palestinian colleagues, who "continue to endure unimaginable violence" amid Israel's 22-month U.S.-backed annihilation and siege.

"Today, we raise our voices again in full solidarity with our Palestinian colleagues in Gaza," the international medical workers wrote in the open letter first obtained by Zeteo and also published by Physicians for Human Rights-Israel, which along with B'Tselem last month became the first two Israeli advocacy groups to accuse their country of genocide.

"We refuse to be silent while our colleagues are starved and shot by Israel," declared the letter's signers, who "have witnessed firsthand the scale and severity of suffering" inflicted by Israeli bombs, bullets, and blockade.

The letter continues: "Israel's ongoing genocide and deepening siege have effectively destroyed the entire health system in Gaza. The few remaining partially functioning hospitals are held together by the determination and commitment of Palestinian doctors and nurses, all of whom continue to care for patients despite the constant risk of targeting, and now starvation too."

"Our Palestinian colleagues—doctors, nurses, and first responders—are all rapidly losing weight due to forced starvation at the hands of the Israeli government," the signers said. "Many suffer from hunger, dizziness, and fainting episodes while performing operations and triaging patients in emergency rooms. Most have been displaced into tents after being forced from their homes, and many are surviving on less than a single serving of rice a day."

"Palestinian healthcare workers have been killed in large numbers as a result of Israel's repeated and systemic attacks on the health system and health workforce," the letter notes. "Over 1,580 health workers had been killed as of May 2025."

Furthermore, "the Israeli military has abducted, unlawfully detained, abused, and tortured hundreds of Palestinian healthcare workers, holding them in abject conditions in prisons and detention camps."

"The Israeli state has repeatedly blocked patient evacuations and international medical initiatives, and has closed or obstructed critical evacuation and humanitarian routes," the letter states. "Israel continues to systematically block the entry of critical supplies—medications, surgical tools, food, and even baby formula. As a result, Palestinian health workers must try to save lives in hospitals without the most basic supplies that are readily available only a short distance away."

The letter continues:

Patients cannot heal without adequate nutrition and access to comprehensive health services. If someone survives being shot by an Israeli soldier or a blast injury from an Israeli warplane, they still have to heal from their wounds. Malnutrition is a major barrier to full recovery, leaving people susceptible to infections for which very little treatment is now available in Gaza. Put simply: Your body cannot heal when you have not eaten properly in days or sometimes weeks, as is now commonplace in Gaza. The same is true for doctors and healthcare workers, who are struggling to provide care while facing the same conditions of extreme deprivation.

"These are not logistical challenges that can be solved simply by more medical aid or more international medical delegations," the signers added. "This is an entirely man-made crisis driven by limitless cruelty and complete disregard for Palestinian life."

The medical professionals are demanding international action to:

• Protect Palestinian healthcare workers and all Palestinians;
• Protect health sites and immediately stop the attacks on all health facilities;
• Lift Israel's illegal blockade and ensure unimpeded humanitarian access for food, clean water, medical supplies, and fuel distribution;
• Ensure an immediate and permanent cease-fire and an end to the unlawful military occupation of Gaza; and
• Hold accountable those responsible for attacks, detentions, and abuse affecting the medical mission in Gaza.

In addition to the 123 signatories who worked in Gaza, another 159 medical professionals from around the world signed the letter in solidarity.

The new letter comes as the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu—a fugitive from the International Criminal Court wanted for alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes—is preparing a major offensive to fully occupy and ethnically cleanse Gaza.

Launched in retaliation for the Hamas-led attack of October 7, 2023, Israel's 676-day assault and siege on Gaza has left at least 230,000 Palestinians dead, maimed, or missing, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Most of Gaza's more than 2 million inhabitants have also been forcibly displaced, often multiple times. At least 235 Gazans, including 106 children, have starved to death amid a growing famine.

Despite growing international outrage and condemnation of Israel's obliteration of Gaza, there is no end in sight.