The Lancet Gives a Platform to a Call to Suspend Israel’s Medical Association

The Lancet, one of the world’s two leading medical journals, published a rare World Report this week endorsing a petition to suspend the Israel Medical Association, or IMA, from the World Medical Association, or WMA. The report says the IMA failed to condemn what petitioners called the “genocide of Palestinians,” the destruction of Gaza’s health system, and the torture of detainees. It also said 1,150 health workers signed the petition, which was launched by People’s Health Movement, Artsen voor Gaza, and the Health Advisory Council of Jewish Voice for Peace.

The signatories want the issue placed on the agenda of the WMA general assembly, which is due in four months. Among the critics quoted by the journal was Leslie London, a public health professor at the University of Cape Town, who accused the IMA of being “complicit” in the treatment of Palestinians during the war and of staying silent as Gaza residents face starvation and lack water and medical supplies. Juliette Matiessen of PHM Europe and Derek Summerfield of King’s College London also accused the Israeli medical body of violating medical ethics.

Prof. Ido Wolf of Tel Aviv University and Ichilov Medical Center said on X that the article was “very frightening,” arguing that even reporting the boycott campaign gives it legitimacy. He later warned that the move would not only target the association but the whole Israeli health system, including medicines, research, cooperation and training, and could cost patients’ lives.

The IMA rejected the allegations, calling them lies or disputed claims presented as fact, and said the petition ignores Hamas’s use of hospitals as command centers and weapons depots. It said it has called for medical neutrality, humanitarian aid for Gaza civilians and humane treatment of detainees. The Lancet said it could not find public statements from the IMA condemning attacks on Gaza’s health system, calling for a ceasefire, or responding to UN genocide reports. It also noted that IMA president Prof. Zion Hagai wrote to Israel’s military chief last July asking for medical and humanitarian supplies to enter Gaza.

The push comes after a growing boycott campaign. In June last year, the British Medical Association voted by more than 80 percent to suspend ties with the IMA until it condemns attacks on Gaza’s health system and endorses medical neutrality. South Africa’s medical association followed in October, suspending ties and calling for the IMA’s suspension from the WMA. The WMA will decide the matter at its October assembly, but says it opposes excluding national associations over the actions of their governments and wants to keep dialogue open.