Dear Dr Danielle McMullen, President of AMA, and Dr Michael Wright, President of RACGP,

 

I’m writing to request that the AMA and RACGP urgently advocate to the Australian government for the protection of the Global Sumud Flotilla, which Dr Bianca Webb-Pullman, an Australian General Practitioner, is on board. Alarmingly, the Global Sumud Flotilla was attacked by Israel on 23rd September 2025 whilst on route to Gaza. Dr Webb-Pullman is bravely risking her life to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza.

 

The man-made humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza is now beyond words. The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry has determined that Israel’s actions amount to genocide. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) analyses have confirmed famine conditions in the Gaza Strip, specifically in the Gaza Governorate, as of August 2025. This famine is not an accident of war but the result of deliberate policies — including the blockade — which is documented by United Nations and Human rights organisations as the use of starvation as a weapon of war.

 

The Global Sumud Flotilla is a non-violent, humanitarian flotilla attempting to break Israel’s ongoing illegal siege on Gaza to provide urgent aid, food and medicine. You can read more about the flotilla here: https://globalsumudflotilla.org//

 

The recent attacks on the flotilla include explosions, drone use and dropping unidentified objects. These boats carry nothing but civilians and humanitarian aid. This was not an isolated incident: from the Mavi Marmara in 2010, to the flotilla carrying Greta Thunberg earlier this year, peaceful efforts to bring relief to Gaza have been violently obstructed by Israel.

 

Under international law, civilians engaged in delivering humanitarian aid, such as the volunteers on board the flotilla, are protected under the Geneva Convention. As such, any attack on the flotilla would constitute a breach of both international law and is against the provisional order instructions of the International Court of Justice in January 2024 instructing Israel to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza.

 

As respected voices for the medical community, we ask you to speak up for one of your colleagues, Dr Webb-Pullman, and for all of humanity. The genocide in Gaza must end and we must each do our part to call for meaningful action from our elected representatives. Those of us with platforms for advocacy, such as the AMA and RACGP, have a moral responsibility to do so. Demanding safe passage of the Global Sumud Flotilla as per international law to end the siege is not controversial. We ask that you demand the following from the Australian government:

 

1. Demand and immediate humanitarian corridor. All UN members must take every possible measure to guarantee, at a minimum, the opening of a safe and continuous humanitarian corridor to Gaza. This is a moral, legal, and humanitarian imperative. Civilians must have access to life-saving aid without obstruction or delay.
2. Protect the Global Sumud Flotilla, of which Dr Bianca Webb-Pullman is a participant. The Global Sumud Flotilla, committed to delivering aid and standing in solidarity with the people of Gaza, must be fully protected. Governments should safeguard the flotilla until it safely reaches Gaza, ensuring that its mission is neither obstructed nor endangered. The Global Sumud Flotilla initiative is a legal initiative.
3. Call for action from the international community. International humanitarian law obliges all states to protect civilians in conflict zones and to allow the delivery of humanitarian assistance.
4. Demand an end to the use of starvation as a means of warfare, which is a breach of article 54 of the extra-protocols of the Geneva Convention.
5. Unequivocally condemn Israel’s attack on the Global Sumud Flotilla.

 

At this moment of historic responsibility, our medical community must bravely demonstrate moral and ethical leadership, as Dr Webb-Pullman is doing. Speaking up for her safety and for the safety of those trying to provide humanitarian aid to those struggling to survive genocide in Gaza is the least we can do. Anything less risks complicity in genocide, famine, and grave crimes against humanity.

 

Sincerely,