Israeli Medical Association: 'Treating Hamas terrorists is our duty as doctors'

Despite public protest, the Israeli Medical Association published a letter on Sunday, informing hospitals: "Treating Hamas terrorists is our duty as doctors." The Chairman of the IMA Ethics Board stated that he stands behind the country's doctors and added, "Let the judicial system bring the terrorists to justice."

The letter was sent to hospital managers in Israel following demonstrations outside medical institutions regarding the provision of medical treatment to Hamas terrorists in Israel. The Chairman of the IMA Ethics Board, Yossef Walfisch MD, wrote that he "felt the need to emphasize the ethical obligation at this time."

An ethical debate

"We must treat everyone, including Hamas terrorists; it is our duty as doctors," the letter reads, arguing that the rules of international law, the Geneva Convention, and Israeli law all require that "a doctor treat every person regardless of who they are."

Walfisch continues by saying that the only consideration a doctor should make is the patient's medical condition. "The judicial system can bring them to justice," he says. He concludes the letter by saying that he stands fully behind doctors.

His statement on the issue comes after repeated public protests. Amiram Ben Zaken, a resident of the south who volunteers at one of the hospitals, told "Maariv" about his conflicting emotions: "I was in the hospital from the first day the war broke out. Suddenly, I was in the emergency room, and I saw a lot of policemen around a bed. I lost my temper. They warned me not to go near the hospital or record anything; they didn't want people to know that terrorists were being hospitalized there. They forced me to delete the video, but before they asked, I had already sent it, and that's how it was distributed."

Herzl Hajaj, the father of the late Shir Hajaj, who was killed in a terrorist attack in 2017, also spoke on the issue with Sivan Cohen on 103fm radio and shared his anger at the hospitalization of the Nukhba terrorist in Hadassah Hospital: "A terrorist is a terrorist. No terrorist should enter an Israeli hospital."

He continued: "We received a message from the hospital staff saying that there was a terrorist there. I was at a commemoration event for Shir at Azrieli College. I made the decision to run there quickly. I didn't know how many [terrorists] there would be, or who they were. We arrived at the ward, and then (you can see it in the video), we saw a man being brought food. We realized that he was a terrorist, and we shouted, but there were two soldiers guarding him. He had his own room."