Framing Gaza: Medical Journals and the destruction of Healthcare

Abstract A main feature of the Israeli genocide in Gaza has been the systematic destruction of the healthcare system. The Israeli military has methodically generated conditions that drive disease, disability, and death, while simultaneously dismantling the capability of the health system to respond. Despite a purported emphasis on issues such as health equity and social determinants of health, many influential medical bodies across the world have failed to condemn these attacks on healthcare, let alone take meaningful steps for advocacy and accountability. To interrogate this state of affairs, we undertook a descriptive analysis of selected academic articles in medical journals. We explore how anti-Palestinian racism operates to dehumanize Palestinian healthcare workers and Palestinians generally, hindering meaningful institutional solidarity. We find that, through various tropes, violence against Palestinians is widely obscured, overlooked, or even justified. We argue that the framing and curation from health journals contributes to the Israeli military’s ability to continue the targeting of healthcare infrastructure without consequence, in essence manifesting a permission structure for mass atrocities.