To the Leadership of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry:

We, the undersigned, call on the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and its legislative advocacy affiliate, the American Association of Child/Adolescent Psychiatry, to issue public statements calling for the protection of Palestinian children, families, and healthcare workers. In October 2024, the United Nations issued its report that Israel is committing the Crime Against Humanity of Extermination in its actions against Gaza’s healthcare system. Since the start of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, one million Palestinian children have endured traumatic losses of their lives, homes, and families. Aligning with medical ethics, US federal law, and AACAP’s stated mission, we urge AACAP to join the growing call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire and a medically-necessary weapons embargo on Israel to save lives and protect children. Further, we call on AACAP to advocate for the immediate release of the 450 healthcare professionals, including Dr. Abu Safiya,, Pediatrician and Director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, taken into Israeli military custody and unlawfully held under horrific conditions of torture.

As of December 2024, the United Nations, Doctors Without Borders, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and many international governing bodies have declared Israel’s military campaign a genocide requiring immediate international intervention. More than 900 Palestinian family lineages have been erased, and an entire generation of children are left as the sole survivors of their families. A growing body of medical testimonies from US physicians attests that Palestinian children are being directly targeted in what are grave violations of children’s rights to life, health, and safety. From the terrified calls of Hind Rajab to the final embrace of Reem, the “soul of our souls,” the world has watched the children of Gaza endure what no child should ever experience. At the time of writing this letter, the neonatal ICU of Nasser Hospital is again under siege with its incubators cut off from electricity. Neonatal ICUs, including the Shifa Hospital, the Nasr Hospital, and, most recently, the Kamal Adwan Hospital, have become repeated targets, where the lives of newborns were not spared.

In February 2022, AACAP issued a statement, “How to Talk to Children About What’s Happening in Ukraine.” In October 2023, AACAP issued a statement, “Response to the Recent Attacks and Acts of Terror in Israel,” then later issued another statement, “Children’s Mental Health is Paramount Amidst Israel-Gaza Humanitarian Crisis” which appallingly ignored the larger historical context of military occupation and siege of Gaza as contributors to the devastating and traumatic experiences of 1 million Palestinian children. On October 28, 2024 and on December 21, 2024, the Not Another Child Not Another Hospital (NACNAH) campaign submitted a petition to AACAP, signed by thousands of healthcare workers, urging AACAP to call for an end to this genocide by calling for the protection of children in Gaza and Lebanon, to stop targeting hospitals and healthcare workers, and for an arms embargo. We repeat this call today. The six NACNAH demands are consistent with medical ethics, US federal law, and international human rights law.

We call on AACAP to heed these calls and advocate for the health and protection of the children of Palestine and Lebanon, to support its members, to oppose racism and discrimination, and to use policy and advocacy to fight for an end to this horrific genocide. The children of Gaza are our children, our patients. The healthcare workers of Gaza are our colleagues, our friends. They need our support now more than ever.

If the AACAP’s mission statement is to promote the healthy development of children, adolescents, and families through advocacy, then it must use its organizational powers to advocate immediately for the six demands of the Not Another Child Not Another Hospital petition.

1. Call for an end to the bombing of hospitals and attacks on healthcare and aid workers by Israel in Gaza.
2.Call for the protection of children in Gaza and the immediate release of pediatrician Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya and other healthcare workers from detention.
3. Call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza and an end to the ongoing genocide to allow health operations to resume.
4. Support a comprehensive and immediate embargo on weapons to Israel and divestment from Israel to stop the ethnic cleansing of civilians and destruction of healthcare.
5. Advocate for unrestricted humanitarian and medical access to Gaza and an end to the illegal occupation of Palestinian territories.
6. Establish healthcare education and training at your institution for patient-facing staff to provide informed care to patients affected by war crimes, crimes against humanity, and sickness from genocide based on the adoption of the medical definition of genocide at https://doctorsagainstgenocide.org/medical-genocide-def .

We urge the AACAP to lead with courage and integrity. By advocating for the protection of healthcare workers and civilians in Gaza, the AACAP can reaffirm its commitment to the sanctity of healthcare and human life. The world is watching, and history will remember those who chose to stand for justice.