Renowned medical journal The Lancet has featured a petition urging the suspension of the Israeli Medical Association from the World Medical Association.

The petition, released on Saturday by groups including the People's Health Movement, Artsen voor Gaza, and the Health Advisory Council of the Jewish Voice for Peace, accuses the IMA of failing to condemn alleged genocide against Palestinians, the ruin of healthcare facilities, and the mistreatment of medical staff in Gaza.

The WMA Congress is set to review the petition during its October gathering in Rotterdam.

Leslie London, an emeritus professor of public health at the University of Cape Town and PHM South Africa participant, stated to The Lancet that the IMA has been complicit in the harsh handling of Palestinians amid the conflict.

The British Medical Association had already ended its connections with the IMA back in June 2025.

WMA Rejects Exclusion Efforts Targeting Israel

The WMA informed The Lancet of its opposition to barring any members due to government actions, noting that such steps reduce the capacity to address wrongs and limit physician discussions at a time when unified support for medical ethics is essential.

It further emphasized that the IMA ranks among the WMA's founding members and actively promotes its ethical standards and guidelines.

After the petition appeared, Iranian-Jewish cardiologist Dr. Afshine Emrani issued an open letter to The Lancet.

As a cardiologist who experienced a system where medicine served state interests, Emrani described the Lancet's action as a stain on the medical field.

He warned that any boycott would harm key Israeli innovations such as PillCam for gastrointestinal imaging, ReWalk robotic systems for mobility-impaired patients, and advanced AI tools for heart and cancer screening.

Emrani stressed that Israel leads in medical advancements per capita, with these developments benefiting patients worldwide, and that targeting the IMA would disrupt vital research and training ties rather than influence policy.

Criticism of Selective Standards While Other Nations Stay Unaffected

Emrani pointed to inconsistencies in focusing on the IMA while medical groups from Iran, North Korea, and Russia face no comparable measures.

He noted that Iran's authorities have executed doctors, jailed those aiding protesters, and withheld care from political detainees, yet no similar campaigns have emerged.

Expelling medical organizations over political criteria would undermine the impartiality essential to international medicine, he added.

Emrani recalled that the WMA originated in 1947 largely to counter physician abuses during the Nazi era in Germany.

This marks another instance of controversy surrounding The Lancet's Israel-related publications.

In July 2024, the journal ran a correspondence by Rasha Khatib, Martin McKee, and Salim Yusuf estimating up to 186,000 or more deaths linked to the Gaza conflict.

Though presented as a letter rather than peer-reviewed research, the piece gained wide circulation, including among figures like UN rapporteur Francesca Albanese.

Professor Martin McKee later clarified three days afterward that the figures were illustrative only and that the work had been misinterpreted.