To: Dr. Lade Smith CBE, President, Royal College of Psychiatrists

Dear Dr. Smith,

We, the undersigned psychiatrists, write with grave urgency regarding the catastrophic and deliberate infliction of psychological trauma in Gaza. The toll of bombardment, mass bereavement, starvation, and the systematic destruction of healthcare has created a mental health emergency with consequences that will span generations. As mental health professionals, we recognize the massive harm these conditions inflict on caregiving relationships. This is causing a profound and intergenerational psychological trauma on Gaza’s civilians, from infants to the elderly, with devastating consequences that will echo for decades.

The UN Independent Commission of Inquiry (Sept 2024) concluded that Israel implemented a concerted policy to destroy Gaza’s health system, and Israeli security forces deliberately tortured and killed medical personnel, in violation of the right to mental and physical health. Israeli attacks destroyed the only psychiatric hospital in Gaza and most community clinics. Gaza’s population now faces mass trauma without a single intact mental health facility, a crisis demanding our profession’s unequivocal condemnation.

We acknowledge the College’s 2023 statements, but the situation has escalated beyond acute crisis into sustained atrocity. We note the College’s strong stance on Ukraine and urge equal moral clarity here: silence is not neutrality, it is complicity in abandonment.

We demand the Royal College of Psychiatrists:

1. Publicly condemn the mass killing of Palestinian civilians, use of starvation, and systematic destruction of health infrastructure as violations of international law and catalysts of generational trauma.
2. Endorse UN Security Council Resolution 2728 (March 2024), demanding an immediate ceasefire, humanitarian access, and civilian protection.
3. Express solidarity with Palestinian mental health professionals, honouring those killed and offering concrete support.
4. Collaborate internationally to support the urgent restoration and maintenance of mental healthcare services in Gaza.
5. Provide a platform for members to advocate, educate, and act to support mental health in Gaza.
6. Organize an urgent RCPsych-led national summit on Gaza’s mental health catastrophe, uniting frontline clinicians, Palestinian medical professionals, and humanitarian experts.

This is a defining moment for our profession. We cannot credibly address trauma while remaining silent about its deliberate, systematic infliction on Gaza’s civilians. The College must move beyond rhetoric to concrete action. We stand ready to support immediate, meaningful interventions, but neutrality is no longer an option.

Sincerely,

 [The Undersigned] UK Psychiatrists

References

https://documents.un.org/doc/undoc/gen/n24/262/79/pdf/n2426279.pdf

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpsy/article/PIIS2215-0366(24)00128-7/fulltext