WASHINGTON — Adam Hamawy, a surgeon who volunteered to treat wounded Palestinians in Gaza and criticized US support for Israel, will be elected to the House of Representatives from New Jersey, according to US media projections.Hamawy’s win was broadly expected after he secured his party’s nomination to succeed a retiring Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D). He defeated GOP attorney Gregg Mele in New Jersey’s 12th Congressional District.The 56-year-old Democrat, formerly a combat surgeon for the US Army during the Iraq War, is credited with saving the life of now-Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Illinois) after her Black Hawk helicopter was shot down in 2004.A first-time candidate, Hamawy has said his experience in Gaza was what pushed him into politics. “Politics was never my plan,” he said in his campaign launch video in January.Born in Egypt and raised in the US, Hamawy won a crowded Democratic primary in June before securing victory in the heavily Democratic district.Hamawy studied medicine at Rutgers University and later earned an MBA there. He then served for eight years as a surgeon in the US Army, including a nine-month deployment with the 31st Combat Support Hospital in Baghdad during the Iraq war.In Iraq he operated on hundreds of soldiers and civilians, the New Jersey Globe reported. A plastic surgeon and retired US Army combat physician, Hamawy served during the Iraq War and participated in humanitarian medical missions in Bosnia, Sudan, Lebanon and Syria.Hamawy’s humanitarian work in Gaza became a defining part of his campaign.In 2024, he traveled to southern Gaza to treat Palestinians wounded during Israel’s military offensive. He returned for another medical mission in 2025.During his first deployment, Hamawy was stranded alongside international medical workers after Israel seized the Rafah border crossing with Egypt.He refused to leave without assurances that his colleagues, including non-American medical personnel, could also evacuate.”I have done more amputations and seen more traumatic amputations of children than I’ve seen during my entire career in the last two weeks,” he said during a 2024 interview in Gaza.”I’ve seen combat and war wounds and have done surgery with humanitarian and disaster relief now for almost 20 years, and this is nothing like it,” he added.”This is not typical of the wars that I’ve experienced in the past. So, this is not like a war. This is just like complete, utter destruction.”Hamawy described Israel’s actions in Gaza as genocide.”I could only define it as a genocide because I saw the bodies of the people that came in,” he said.He also criticized Washington’s military support for Israel.”When the hospital shakes and I see the bodies come in, I’m paying for it with my tax dollars,” he told The Guardian.”I don’t want my tax dollars doing that.”Hamawy campaigned for universal Medicare coverage, cancellation of medical and student debt, abolition of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and an end to US military assistance to Israel.He also opposed US military operations against Iran.”You’ve heard throughout this race that I said over and over again: health care, not bombs; to abolish ICE; and to unrig this economy,” he told supporters after his June primary victory, according to The New York Times.Hamawy received endorsements from Sen. Bernie Sanders and Duckworth.Coleman, who endorsed him after the primary, praised his “selflessness and bravery” and his ability to “speak with unimpeachable authority on the suffering of the Palestinian people.”His campaign also faced scrutiny over past ties to Egyptian cleric Omar Abdel-Rahman, convicted in 1995 of plotting attacks against US targets.Hamawy, who testified as a defense witness during the trial, said he knew the cleric through New Jersey’s Egyptian American community and condemned his violent rhetoric and actions.Hamawy was never accused of criminal wrongdoing in connection with Abdel-Rahman.Following his primary victory, Hamawy emphasized the significance of overcoming political expectations.”We were told that an outsider couldn’t win. That we couldn’t compete. Well, I think we competed,” he said.”We made it clear you never need to ask for permission to fight for justice.”His November victory secured him a place among the Muslim lawmakers entering the new Congress in January.WASHINGTON — Adam Hamawy, a surgeon who volunteered to treat wounded Palestinians in Gaza and criticized US support for Israel, will be elected to the House of Representatives from New Jersey, according to US media projections.Hamawy’s win was broadly expected after he secured his party’s nomination to succeed a retiring Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D). He defeated GOP attorney Gregg Mele in New Jersey’s 12th Congressional District.The 56-year-old Democrat, formerly a combat surgeon for the US Army during the Iraq War, is credited with saving the life of now-Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Illinois) after her Black Hawk helicopter was shot down in 2004.A first-time candidate, Hamawy has said his experience in Gaza was what pushed him into politics. “Politics was never my plan,” he said in his campaign launch video in January.Born in Egypt and raised in the US, Hamawy won a crowded Democratic primary in June before securing victory in the heavily Democratic district.Hamawy studied medicine at Rutgers University and later earned an MBA there. He then served for eight years as a surgeon in the US Army, including a nine-month deployment with the 31st Combat Support Hospital in Baghdad during the Iraq war.In Iraq he operated on hundreds of soldiers and civilians, the New Jersey Globe reported. A plastic surgeon and retired US Army combat physician, Hamawy served during the Iraq War and participated in humanitarian medical missions in Bosnia, Sudan, Lebanon and Syria.Hamawy’s humanitarian work in Gaza became a defining part of his campaign.In 2024, he traveled to southern Gaza to treat Palestinians wounded during Israel’s military offensive. He returned for another medical mission in 2025.During his first deployment, Hamawy was stranded alongside international medical workers after Israel seized the Rafah border crossing with Egypt.He refused to leave without assurances that his colleagues, including non-American medical personnel, could also evacuate.”I have done more amputations and seen more traumatic amputations of children than I’ve seen during my entire career in the last two weeks,” he said during a 2024 interview in Gaza.”I’ve seen combat and war wounds and have done surgery with humanitarian and disaster relief now for almost 20 years, and this is nothing like it,” he added.”This is not typical of the wars that I’ve experienced in the past. So, this is not like a war. This is just like complete, utter destruction.”Hamawy described Israel’s actions in Gaza as genocide.”I could only define it as a genocide because I saw the bodies of the people that came in,” he said.He also criticized Washington’s military support for Israel.”When the hospital shakes and I see the bodies come in, I’m paying for it with my tax dollars,” he told The Guardian.”I don’t want my tax dollars doing that.”Hamawy campaigned for universal Medicare coverage, cancellation of medical and student debt, abolition of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and an end to US military assistance to Israel.He also opposed US military operations against Iran.”You’ve heard throughout this race that I said over and over again: health care, not bombs; to abolish ICE; and to unrig this economy,” he told supporters after his June primary victory, according to The New York Times.Hamawy received endorsements from Sen. Bernie Sanders and Duckworth.Coleman, who endorsed him after the primary, praised his “selflessness and bravery” and his ability to “speak with unimpeachable authority on the suffering of the Palestinian people.”His campaign also faced scrutiny over past ties to Egyptian cleric Omar Abdel-Rahman, convicted in 1995 of plotting attacks against US targets.Hamawy, who testified as a defense witness during the trial, said he knew the cleric through New Jersey’s Egyptian American community and condemned his violent rhetoric and actions.Hamawy was never accused of criminal wrongdoing in connection with Abdel-Rahman.Following his primary victory, Hamawy emphasized the significance of overcoming political expectations.”We were told that an outsider couldn’t win. That we couldn’t compete. Well, I think we competed,” he said.”We made it clear you never need to ask for permission to fight for justice.”His November victory secured him a place among the Muslim lawmakers entering the new Congress in January.
Surgeon who challenged US support for Israel wins New Jersey House seat
