A group of doctors who recently returned from providing medical care in Gaza called on the Biden administration Tuesday to impose an immediate arms embargo on Israel, arguing that without it, the US remains complicit in the ongoing bloodshed in the region. Speaking at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Dr. Tammy Abughanim, an emergency medicine specialist from Chicago, described the dire conditions in Gaza, stating that the over 10-month conflict has made life "literally impossible for a civilian in Gaza right now." "When we press the Biden administration for an arms embargo as physicians, what we are saying is we cannot do our jobs as bombs are falling," said Abughanim, who recently returned from Gaza. "Israel has made our jobs impossible with the direct support of the United States." Her sentiments were echoed by fellow physicians who described the horrors they witnessed, including the systematic destruction of Khan Younis and the suffering of children and families caught in the conflict. Dr. Feroze Sidhwa recounted seeing "children's heads smashed to pieces by bullets" and mothers feeding their newborns with poisoned water due to severe malnutrition. Sidhwa also read a letter from Dr. Mark Perlmutter, a Jewish-American doctor who had accompanied him to Gaza, in which Perlmutter described the "incomprehensible cruelty" being inflicted on the people of Gaza, particularly children. He called for an end to US arms support for Israel, stating, "For the good of the Palestinians, for the good of the United States, for the good of Israel, for the good of Judaism, and indeed, for the good of international law and all of humanity, please stop arming Israel." The ongoing conflict in Gaza has resulted in over 40,000 Palestinian deaths, including tens of thousands of women and children, and displaced 2 million people. The doctors emphasized that Israel's restrictions are preventing them from obtaining essential medical supplies, exacerbating the suffering of the wounded. — Agencies
