Since October 2023, the BMA has undertaken a number of actions, including releasing public statements, writing to the Foreign Secretary several times, and taking an emergency resolution to the WMA. Our main asks have been:

• a ceasefire
• respect for international humanitarian law
• the immediate release of all hostages
• resumption of supplies and resources entering Gaza
• respect for medical impartiality and neutrality
• the establishment of a humanitarian corridor
• an independent investigation into attacks on Gaza healthcare facilities, medical supplies and humanitarian aid, patients, ambulances, and medical personnel; the arbitrary detention of Palestinian medical personnel by Israel authorities and their treatment in such facilities; medical involvement in any mistreatment of Palestinian detainees by Israeli authorities
• the siege of Gaza to end
• the facilitation of further medical evacuations
• governments of the world to work together to ensure humanitarian needs are met.

We have also written to the NHS Chief Executive to raise our concerns regarding the rise of antisemitism and islamophobia in the NHS.

More information on all of these actions can be found here and information on our further work on health-related human rights and humanitarian issues can be found at here.

Motions passed at ARM become part of BMA policy and going forward, the BMA Council will discuss how to best implement them.

Motions passed at ARM relating to the crisis in Gaza

Below is the wording of the motions passed at ARM:

1. 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;

ii) 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.

2. That this meeting believes that criticism of the actions of the state of Israel is not per se antisemitic.

3. That this meeting affirms the right of healthcare professionals and medical students to criticise states, governments, or institutions for actions that contravene international law. This meeting:

i) acknowledges that medical students advocating for Palestine have been the subject of disciplinary action by their medical schools and calls on the BMA to lobby medical schools to not penalise and censor Palestinian advocacy;

ii) is concerned about the rise of antisemitism on campus and calls on the BMA to develop robust safeguards in order to systematically differentiate rightful advocacy for Palestine while protecting Jewish people;

iii) calls on the BMA to support medical students and healthcare workers undergoing disciplinaries for raising awareness of humanitarian crises both pastorally and by protecting their rights;

iv) demands that any punitive measures taken against healthcare workers and medical students for such expressions be immediately revoked;

v) calls on the BMA to issue clear guidance to protect the freedom of expression and advocacy of its members in line with international human rights standards.

4. That this meeting reaffirms that healthcare facilities and personnel are protected under international humanitarian law, and that this protection must be upheld consistently in all conflicts. We note the June 2025 statements by the World Medical Association (WMA) and Israeli Medical Association (IMA) condemning what they described as a deliberate missile strike on Soroka Medical Center in Israel. Yet the WMA has issued no comparable statement on the destruction of Gaza’s health system, and the IMA has remained silent on the deaths, detention, and targeting of Palestinian healthcare workers and facilities — all widely documented by UN and humanitarian bodies. Selective condemnation undermines medical neutrality. We call on the BMA to:

i) reaffirm its commitment to the impartial protection of healthcare in all conflicts;

ii) write to the WMA urging consistent condemnation of attacks on healthcare, including in Gaza;

iii) suspend engagement with the IMA until it affirms medical neutrality and condemns attacks on healthcare in Gaza.