Doctors Against Genocide Calls on US to Cut off Aid to Israel

Washington, MINA – Doctors Against Genocide (DAG) has called on the US to cut off aid to Israel after their colleagues were detained last month by Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip, Anadolu Agency reported.

DAG, a global coalition of health care workers, mobilized more than 50 medical professionals on Capitol Hill to advocate for the release of Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, who was detained by Israeli forces along with others during a December 27 raid on the health facility.

The delegation visited members of the House and Senate on Wednesday to advocate for urgent congressional action on the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

“We are here to present to the Senate and the House about the genocide that is taking place in Gaza, particularly northern Gaza, and particularly the targeting by the Israeli military of all the hospitals in Gaza, particularly Kamal Adwan Hospital, which has been destroyed, and most of the hospitals have been destroyed,” Omar Scott Antar told Anadolu Agency.

Antar, who is also a co-founder of the Connecticut Palestine Alliance, said the destruction of Gaza’s health care system is “just one part of the systematic ethnic cleansing and genocide” against Palestinians in Gaza.

“This has to stop now, and the United States has the authority to stop it with a phone call from President (Joe) Biden or a future President (Donald) Trump, to stop all military aid to Israel,” he said, adding that the onus is on the US.

When asked if he expected there would be a change in Gaza policy with the new Trump administration, Antar said it depended on President-elect Trump’s “desire.”

“If President Trump feels that the war is affecting him personally, affecting his political standing, he will stop the war. But if the war continues without affecting his political standing, it will be worse,” he added.

Desmond Kaplan, a psychiatrist working in Baltimore, said he was “deeply distressed” by what has happened in Gaza, which is “unacceptable.”

“I am deeply concerned that, as an American, America is supplying weapons for an unjustified war, that the war in Gaza has to end, and we have to stop the killing of children and the elderly and the destruction of schools, hospitals and places of worship. We have to talk to the Palestinians,” Kaplan told Anadolu.

He also called for a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine to end the conflict.

Steve Berman said he is a member of Doctors Against Genocide who is “deeply concerned” about the crisis in Gaza, the forced detention of doctors and the deliberate killing of innocent civilians.

“This should never have happened, and if you can, please stop it. Not if you can. I know you can. But please stop supporting the Israeli government because they are killing innocent people,” Berman, a retired cardiologist, told Anadolu Agency.

The Israeli army has continued its genocidal war in Gaza that has killed nearly 46,000 people, mostly women and children, since October 7, 2023, despite a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire. (T/RE1/P2)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)