Dr. Mimi Syed treats a child in Gaza.Courtesy Dr. Mimi Syed
An American doctor who has volunteered for multiple medical missions in Gaza told Reveal and Mother Jones that after speaking out about what she witnessed over the past two years—including children shot by Israeli forces—the government of Israel has stopped her from re-entering Gaza.
“We were just denied,” Dr. Mimi Syed told Reveal and Mother Jones from her hotel room in Jordan. “We were given no reason as to why.”
Mother Jones reached out for comment about Syed’s denial to both the World Health Organization and the Israeli military team that handles entry into Gaza. Neither had responded at the time of publication.
Syed is one of a handful of American doctors who have been vocal about atrocities they have witnessed in Gaza. In the US, she is a board-certified emergency room physician in Olympia, Washington. She has lobbied Congress and, earlier this year, sat across the table from UN Secretary-General António Guterres, sharing an account of what she saw while working in Gaza.
“When doctors go in and we expose what’s happening, the less they have of us there, the better.”
Syed also contributed photos and testimony to a controversial New York Times op-ed written by fellow American Dr. Feroze Sidhwa, which shows a CT scan of a child with a bullet lodged in their skull.
This year, we spoke with Syed for Reveal’s “Kids Under Fire in Gaza” episode:
Syed was set to begin her third medical mission in Gaza, which was to last around three to four weeks. It would have been similar to her other medical missions, which took place in the summer and winter of 2024. The timing of her denial comes just as Israel plans to begin a ground invasion of Gaza City and as reports of starvation and famine continue to increase. Meanwhile, the US State Department has halted all medical humanitarian visas from Palestinians to the US, citing the need for further review of the process. (The change in visas was made after far-right pundit Laura Loomer spread unsubstantiated claims that Gazans were being imported into the US.)
“I think there are many reasons [for being denied entry to Gaza]. We have been very vocal” in the media, Syed said in an interview with Mother Jones. “When doctors go in and we expose what’s happening, the less they have of us there, the better.”
Syed had brought with her a suitcase filled with baby formula, protein bars, and medical devices. At this point, she’s planning her return trip back to the US, a few weeks earlier than she had anticipated. And she’s bringing the suitcase with her as well.
“I’m going back Saturday, and all of this gets wasted,” she said. “They are limiting foreign workers to limit the exposure of what they’re doing, and because they can do it, because they have complete and utter impunity.”
