MEDIA ADVISORY FOR FRIDAY 8 AUGUST 2025
8 August 2025 - PALESTINIAN DOCTORS BRIEF PRESS ON GAZA STARVATION, ATTACKS ON HEALTH CARE, AND DETENTION OF PALESTINIAN MEDICAL PERSONNEL
WHAT: Palestinian doctors, either currently working in Gaza or with direct experience there, will update the press and public on the worsening situation in Gaza, including institutionalised starvation, systematic attacks on starving civilians seeking aid, denials of international medical delegations, assaults on healthcare facilities, and the unlawful detention of their medical colleagues, who are being held in inhumane conditions.
Moderated by Cynthia Nixon Artist, Activist and Artist4Ceasefire.
WHEN:
● Friday 8 August 2025 for one hour
● 10 am New York | 3 pm London | 4 pm Paris | 5 pm Gaza and Jerusalem
WHERE: Registration required here
NOTE: After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.
WHO:
Moderated by: Cynthia Nixon
Speakers, all of whom are Palestinian, to include:
● Dr. Lina Qassem-Hassan is the Chairperson of Physicians for Human Rights’s Israel’s (PHRI) Board of Directors and a specialist in family medicine.
● Dr. Majed Jaber is a medical doctor from Gaza, currently serving on the frontlines of the territory’s devastated healthcare system.
● Dr. Mohammed Mughaisib is deputy medical coordinator for Médecins Sans Frontière (MSF) in Gaza. With degrees in medicine and mental health, he has worked with MSF for nearly 23 years. Dr Mohamed will discuss MSF’s latest report: This is not aid. This is orchestrated killing.
● Dr. Rana Soboh is MedGlobal’s Nutrition Officer in North Gaza. She co-manages MedGlobal’s nutrition stabilization centers inside Gaza, and has worked extensively at Kamal Adwan and other hospitals throughout northern Gaza.
● Dr. Thaer Ahmad, a board-certified emergency medicine physician based in Chicago who previously worked as a volunteer ER doctor in Gaza.
Extended bios:
● Dr. Lina Qassem-Hassan is the Chairperson of Physicians for Human Rights’s Israel’s (PHRI) Board of Directors and a specialist in family medicine. She has been a dedicated
advocate against the genocide, carrying out extensive advocacy work to call on the international community to act. In addition to her leadership role, Dr. Qassem-Hassan regularly volunteers with PHRI's West Bank mobile clinic and formerly participated in medical delegations to Gaza. She is also active in PHRI's Prisoners and Detainees department, where she accompanies Palestinian hunger strikers and provides medical and moral support.
● Dr. Majed Jaber is a Palestinian medical doctor from Gaza, currently serving on the frontlines of the territory’s devastated healthcare system. A graduate of Al-Quds University and a childhood cancer survivor, he has worked in emergency departments, neonatal ICUs, and displacement shelters, often performing critical procedures under fire and without basic resources. Dr. Jaber has collaborated with numerous humanitarian organizations, including UNRWA, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), GLIA, PMRS, and PCRS, providing care to thousands during mass casualty events and outbreaks. Beyond his clinical work, he is an outspoken medical advocate who uses social media and international media to document the collapse of Gaza’s health sector and the resilience of its people. He is also the co-founder of MD Guidance, a platform supporting Palestinian medical students in their academic and professional journeys.
● Dr. Mohammed Mughaisib is deputy medical coordinator for MSF in Gaza. With degrees in medicine and mental health, he has worked with MSF for nearly 23 years. In the fall of 2023, he was forced to flee his Gaza City home and has been displaced multiple times since. The ongoing genocide is forcing him to live separated from his wife and children who were able to take refuge in Egypt, while he stays in Gaza.
● Dr. Rana Soboh is MedGlobal’s Nutrition Technical Advisor in Gaza. She co-manages MedGlobal’s nutrition stabilization centers inside Gaza, and has worked extensively at Kamal Adwan and other hospitals throughout northern Gaza.
● Dr. Thaer Ahmad, a board-certified emergency medicine physician, serves as the assistant program director for the Emergency Medicine Residency Program and global health director for the Emergency Department at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, Illinois. He is an assistant clinical professor at the University of Illinois and board member of the Palestinian American Medical Association. His experience in emergency response and humanitarian relief includes time in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Turkey, Greece, and Kenya. Dr. Ahmad volunteered in Gaza from January 6 to January 24, 2024, at both al-Aqsa and Nasser Hospital. He wrote the following piece on the plight of Palestinian healthcare workers: 'You Cannot Destroy a People Without First Destroying Their Healers': Israel’s War on Gaza's Medical System
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