Doctor Who Served in Gaza Nears US Congress Seat

Adam Hamawy, a plastic surgeon, former soldier, and medical worker who has served in conflict zones, has won a crowded Democratic primary for a vacant seat in the US House of Representatives.

With this victory, the Egyptian-born doctor is poised to represent New Jersey's 12th Congressional District, a Democratic stronghold. He will face Republican candidate Gregg Mele in the midterm election on November 3.

While the New Jersey primary continues a string of wins for progressive candidates in safe Democratic districts, Hamawy stands apart from many peers. If elected in November, he would become the only member of Congress with direct experience of Israel's war in Gaza.

Speaking to Al Jazeera in April, Hamawy recounted a trip to Washington, DC, after his medical mission to the Palestinian territory in 2024. "I spoke with lawmakers and our representatives as a witness to say: This is happening there. This is real. This is not fake news. This is not just on social media. I have experienced it, and here is what I have seen firsthand."

He received mixed reactions. A few lawmakers spoke out against the war based on his testimony. Others expressed private condemnation but took no public action, and some refused to meet Hamawy. "This is what drove me to run," he said. "We need more elected officials with courage, people who actually act on what we know is wrong."

As a congressman, Hamaway hopes to help steer the House's response to Israel's war and America's role in it. "I feel I have to go to Washington to fix this myself."

The US Congress plays a critical role in the lives of Palestinians in Gaza, responsible for approving billions of dollars in annual military aid to Israel. Congress also has the power to pass laws blocking arms transfers. Yet while lawmakers regularly visit Israel and the West Bank, no sitting member of Congress is known to have entered Gaza in recent years.

In October 2023, Representative Mark Pocan of Wisconsin said no lawmaker had been allowed into Gaza "in a decade" due to Israel's blockade. The last visit by a sitting member was Keith Ellison's in 2013. In 2018, Pocan and two colleagues wrote a letter requesting entry to Gaza but were denied.

Hamawy is no stranger to conflict zones: He has participated in medical missions to Bosnia, Sudan, Haiti, Lebanon, and Syria. But he describes the experience in Gaza as uniquely eye-opening, due to US support for Israel's war. He recalled witnessing one patient after another suffering permanent injuries from Israeli attacks.

"By going there and actually living it, by taking care of a child whose arm was amputated and who lost his entire family, you can't turn it off because you have to operate on them and see them the next day. And then you see someone else and do this repeatedly." He added that the stress of being in a war zone was overwhelming. The experience included "not being able to sleep, because you are bombed for hours on end, and there are drones overhead 24/7. And you know that anytime, something is going to happen. You really have no control over your life."

Hamawy's political rise has been fueled by high-profile endorsements, including from Senator Tammy Duckworth, who credits the former Army surgeon with saving her life when her Black Hawk helicopter was shot down in Iraq in 2004. Duckworth previously advocated for Hamawy when his medical mission was temporarily blocked by Israel from leaving Gaza in 2024. He also received a key endorsement from Senator Bernie Sanders in May.

However, the final stretch of Tuesday's primary also saw Hamawy face increased scrutiny over a past association with Omar Abdel-Rahman, a New Jersey Islamic leader convicted in 1995 for inspiring attacks on the US. Hamawy has never been charged with criminal wrongdoing. He explained that he knew Abdel-Rahman through the Egyptian-American community in New Jersey and stressed his opposition to all forms of violence.

In his victory speech Tuesday, Hamawy said his win signaled a new "era" in US politics. "Let me be clear to all of you and everyone watching today: There was a time when this might have worked, when racist and Islamophobic attacks could swing an election. That era of American politics is over."