BMA ARM motion re Israel-Gaza Conflict

The following motion (Motion 43) was presented to BMA ARM 2025 on 24 June, 2025:

That this meeting reaffirms the BMA’s position statements of June 2024 and January 2025 on the Israel-Gaza conflict, which underscore the imperative of upholding international humanitarian law and the protection of healthcare workers and infrastructure in conflict zones. And:-

i) condemns in the strongest terms the systematic destruction of hospitals in Gaza and the killing of over 1,000 healthcare workers since October 7, 2023, as grave violations of international law and an affront to medical neutrality;

i) demands the immediate and unconditional release of all arbitrarily detained healthcare workers in Israel as political prisoners and calls for an end to the targeting and criminalisation of medical personnel providing care in conflict zones;

iii) calls for unrestricted and unimpeded access for medical and humanitarian relief in Gaza, ensuring the delivery of life-saving aid and the rebuilding of healthcare infrastructure;

iv) urges the UK Government to actively support the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in their investigations and prosecutions of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide, including holding accountable any medical professionals who have participated in or facilitated the torture or mistreatment of prisoners.

Victims of Tal as Sultan massacre, Rafah on 23/03/2025 1 2 3

Palestinian Red Crescent Society

  • Rifaat Radwan
  • Mustafa Khafaya
  • Ezz El-Din Shaat
  • Saleh Muammar
  • Muhammad Bahloul
  • Ashraf Abu Labda
  • Muhammad Al-Hila
  • Raed Al-Sharif

Civil Defence

  • Yousef Rasem Khalifa
  • Fouad Ibrahim Al-Jamal
  • Ibrahim Nabil Al-Maghari
  • Samir Yahya Al-Bahabsa
  • Zuhair Abdul Hamid Al-Farra
  • Anwar Al-Attar
  • Kamal Mohammed Shahtout (UN)

15 colleagues. Targeted. Executed. Buried in a mass grave,4 along their ambulances, a fire truck and a UN-marked car.5

At the time, they were described as “terrorists”.6 7

But when bodies were exhumed,5 video footage from the phone of Abu Labda, one of the ambulance workers, told a different story.

In his last few minutes, reciting the Shahada, begging mother for forgiveness: I only chose this path to help others.4

Targeted. Executed. Buried, in uniform.4 5

***

Today marks 626 days since the start of the war in the Gaza Strip.8

But the targeting, torturing and execution of our colleagues has been going on a lot longer.9 10

Colleagues have testified to being stripped, beaten and blindfolded.11 12 13

Doctors have died in Israeli custody.14 15 16

And for those still standing, there is no lifeline:

The health system is collapsing.17 18 19

Hospitals bombed. Ambulances destroyed. Electricity cut. Medical evacuations: denied.19 20 21 22

The rest are left to die in corridors, in cars, or under the rubble.23

This is not collateral damage. It is policy.10 11 24

A policy that blocks aid, criminalises care, and punishes those who try to save lives.24 25

The UN, Human Rights Watch, the World Medical Association (among many others) have all raised the alarm.26 27

***

It is time for the UK Government to stop equivocating.

It must back the ICJ.

It must back the ICC.

And not shield those who choose to violate humanitarian law.

Because when healthcare itself is the target, silence is not neutrality. It is complicity.

  1. Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor (2025) ‘Israel’s execution of 15 medical personnel is unprecedented in recent history; crime demands immediate accountability’, 1 April. Available at: https://euromedmonitor.org/en/article/6665/Israel%E2%80%99s-execution-of-15-medical-personnel-is-unprecedented-in-recent-history%3B-crime-demands-immediate-accountability. ↩︎

  2. Amnesty International (2025) ‘Israel / OPT: Investigate killings of paramedics and rescue workers in Gaza’, 1 April. Available at: https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2025/04/israel-opt-investigate-killings-of-paramedics-and-rescue-workers-in-gaza/. ↩︎

  3. ICRC (2025) Israel and the occupied territories: ICRC appalled by killing of PRCS medics and first responders. Available at: https://www.icrc.org/en/news-release/israel-and-occupied-territories-icrc-appalled-killing-prcs-medics. ↩︎

  4. Mezzofiore, Y.A.-G., Kareem Khadder, Jeremy Diamond, Abeer Salman, Gianluca (2025) ‘Dad, help me… we were targeted by the Israelis’: Audio and video capture last moments of aid workers killed in Gaza, CNN. Available at: https://www.cnn.com/2025/04/07/middleeast/gaza-aid-workers-killed-audio-intl-invs. ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎

  5. United Nations Media (2025) Gaza Tal as Sultan Aftermath, UN Media. Available at: https://media.un.org/unifeed/en/asset/d335/d3356739. ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎

  6. Fassihi, F. (2025) ‘Some Aid Workers Killed in Gaza Were Shot Multiple Times, Officials Say’, The New York Times, 2 April. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/02/world/middleeast/gaza-aid-workers-gunshot-wounds.html. ↩︎

  7. Kershner, I. (2025) ‘Israel Says Its Account of Rescue Workers Killed in Gaza Was Partly “Mistaken”’, The New York Times, 5 April. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/05/world/middleeast/israel-killing-rescue-workers-gaza.html. ↩︎

  8. Reported impact snapshot | Gaza Strip (18 June 2025) (2025) United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs - Occupied Palestinian Territory. Available at: https://www.ochaopt.org/content/reported-impact-snapshot-gaza-strip-18-june-2025. ↩︎

  9. WHO Surveillance System for Attacks on Healthcare (SSA) (2019). Available at: https://extranet.who.int/ssa/. ↩︎

  10. World Health Organization (2022) Right to Health: Barriers to health and attacks on health care in the occupied Palestinian territory 2019-2023, World Health Organization EMRO. Available at: http://www.emro.who.int/opt/information-resources/right-to-health.html. ↩︎ ↩︎

  11. Human Rights Watch (2024) ‘Israel: Palestinian Healthcare Workers Tortured’, 26 August. Available at: https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/08/26/israel-palestinian-healthcare-workers-tortured. ↩︎ ↩︎

  12. PHRI (2025a) Torture of Medical Staff from Gaza in Israel: Report. Physicians for Human Rights Israel. Available at: https://www.phr.org.il/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/6265_DetentionReport_Eng.pdf. ↩︎

  13. PHRI (2025b) Torture of Medical Staff from Gaza in Israel: Testimonials. Physicians for Human Rights Israel. Available at: https://www.phr.org.il/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/6265_DetentionReport_Eng.pdf. ↩︎

  14. Mofokeng, T. (2024a) ‘UN expert horrified by death of Gazan orthopedic surgeon in Israeli detention’, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, 16 May. Available at: https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2024/05/un-expert-horrified-death-gazan-orthopedic-surgeon-israeli-detention. ↩︎

  15. Mofokeng, T. (2024b) ‘UN expert shocked by death of another Palestinian doctor in Israeli detention’, UNOHC, 24 September. Available at: https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2024/09/un-expert-shocked-death-another-palestinian-doctor-israeli-detention. ↩︎

  16. Associated Free Press (2025) ‘Gaza hospital chief held in “inhumane” conditions by Israel: lawyer’, 16 April. Available at: https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20250416-gaza-hospital-chief-held-in-inhumane-conditions-by-israel-lawyer. ↩︎

  17. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (2024c) Thematic Report - Attacks on hospitals during the escalation of hostilities in Gaza (7 October 2023 - 30 June 2024). United Nations. Available at: https://www.ohchr.org/en/documents/reports/thematic-report-attacks-hospitals-during-escalation-hostilities-gaza-7-october. ↩︎

  18. Türk, V. (2025) ‘Israel’s attacks have devastating impact on Gaza’s hospitals, Türk tells Security Council’. Available at: https://www.ohchr.org/en/statements-and-speeches/2025/01/israels-attacks-have-devastating-impact-gazas-hospitals-turk-tells. ↩︎

  19. Jamaluddine, Z. et al. (2025) ‘Traumatic injury mortality in the Gaza Strip from Oct 7, 2023, to June 30, 2024: a capture–recapture analysis’, The Lancet, 405(10477), pp. 469–477. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(24)02678-3. ↩︎ ↩︎

  20. United Nations News (2025) ‘Number of aid workers killed in Gaza conflict, highest in UN history: Guterres’, UN Affairs, 5 June. Available at: https://news.un.org/en/story/2025/06/1164086. ↩︎

  21. UNRWA: Claims Versus Facts (2025) UNRWA. Available at: https://www.unrwa.org/unrwa-claims-versus-facts-2025. ↩︎

  22. UNRWA Situation Report #176 on the Humanitarian Crisis in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem (2025) UNRWA. Available at: https://www.unrwa.org/resources/reports/unrwa-situation-report-176-situation-gaza-strip-and-west-bank-including-east-jerusalem. ↩︎

  23. World Health Organization (2022) Palestinian Voices 2022-2023. Available at: https://applications.emro.who.int/docs/9789292741341-eng.pdf. ↩︎

  24. British Medical Association (2025a) ‘BMA statement on Israel-Gaza crisis: January 2025’. Available at: https://www.bma.org.uk/what-we-do/working-internationally/our-international-work/bma-statement-on-israel-gaza-crisis-january-2025. ↩︎ ↩︎

  25. British Medical Association (2024a) ‘BMA position: Israel-Gaza conflict’. Available at: https://www.bma.org.uk/what-we-do/working-internationally/our-international-work/bma-position-israel-gaza-conflict. ↩︎

  26. British Medical Association (2025b) ‘Re. The arbitrary detention and alleged mistreatment of Gazan healthcare professionals by Israel’. Available at: https://www.bma.org.uk/media/0uxhy3zp/the-arbitrary-detention-and-alleged-mistreatment-of-gazan-healthcare-professionals-by-israel-bma-230125.pdf. ↩︎

  27. British Medical Association (draft, pending publication) Medicine Under Attack: the increasing assault on healthcare in conflict zones. ↩︎