Media Release ANMF statement on Middle East conflict

The Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (ANMF) stands in solidarity with nurses, midwives and healthcare workers who are delivering care across communities devastated by escalating hostilities in the Middle East.

Nurses and midwives in the Middle East are working in extremely dangerous conditions and severely resource depleted environments, but continue to fulfil their professional and ethical duty in providing care, at great personal risk.

International humanitarian law is unequivocal: nurses, midwives and healthcare workers, health facilities, and civilians must be protected at all times to ensure safe, dignified access to care.

As Australia's largest union representing health professionals committed to care, dignity, and human rights, the ANMF and our members are deeply distressed by the mounting loss of life, the growing number of mass casualties and the profound trauma being inflicted on communities across the region.

The daily, ongoing violence we are witnessing is inflicting widespread catastrophic harm, not only through direct attacks but also through the collapse of health systems, severe shortages of essential medical supplies and the destruction of critical civilian facilities that support learning, care, and community life.

Thousands of people have been displaced from their homes, the environmental damage is compounding public health risks and nurses and other frontline healthcare workers are being forced to provide lifesaving care under impossible conditions.

This is a humanitarian emergency requiring urgent, international intervention and sustained global attention. The crisis caused by all parties to this war has resulted in profound loss of life and unacceptable harm to innocent people, while also placing workers at risk and threatening wider economic stability.

The ANMF's 'Nurses and Midwives for Peace' campaign stands in solidarity with our brave colleagues and counterparts working in the Middle East, who must be able to provide care in safe, protected environments, ensuring people have access to secure, humanitarian aid.

The ANMF and our members remain steadfast in our commitment to advocate for the safety, rights, and wellbeing of nurses, midwives, and the communities they care for. We call for an immediate ceasefire and for all current actors to stop targeting healthworkers, hospitals, schools, children and civilains and to stop causing the mass displacement of people across the region. We call for a return to UN sanctioned processes for peace.

The ANMF will continue to stand in solidarity with our colleagues affected by this conflict and work alongside international partners to promote peace, protection, humanitarian justice and for a peaceful, diplomatic resolution to the war.

The ANMF, with over 356,000 members, is the industrial and professional voice for nurses, midwives and carers in Australia.

ANMF statement authorised by Annie Butler, ANMF Federal Secretary. 1/365 Queen St, Melbourne.

ANMF media inquiries: Richard Lenarduzzi 0411 254 390