Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez speaks at a press conference to announce the Artificial Intelligence Data Center Moratorium Act at the U.S. Capitol on March 25, 2026, in Washington, D.C. (Tasos Katopodis / Getty Images)
By Samuel Short July 13, 2026 at 3:28pm
New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez either made a completely reckless mistake or she supports terrorism. Either way, her latest foreign policy take won’t leave her better off.
On Friday, AOC posted to social media platform X demanding that the Israelis release Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, a “pediatrician” currently held in custody after a December 2024 raid on the Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza. Abu Safiya worked as the director of this facility.
Surely, this doctor was wrongly taken prisoner, no?
But things are not what they seem, as Abu Safiya is also a colonel for Hamas.
In other words, AOC called on Israel to release a terrorist.
“Israel must release pediatrician Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, who has been held without charge for 18 months and now faces an imminent threat to his life from torture. Israel must end the targeting of health workers and the inhumane treatment of Palestinians in arbitrary detention,” the New York Democrat wrote.
Israel must release pediatrician Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, who has been held without charge for 18 months and now faces an imminent threat to his life from torture.
Israel must end the targeting of health workers and the inhumane treatment of Palestinians in arbitrary detention.
— Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@RepAOC) July 10, 2026
Is AOC too low-IQ to serve in Congress?
The Times of Israel noted in February that a resurfaced photo of Abu Safiya was taken among Hamas officers and the group’s Military Medical Services.
Abu Safiya is a colonel in MMS, but this is not some innocuous medical organization. They participated in the attack on Oct. 7, 2023.
On Jan. 31, the NGO Monitor posted a side-by-side comparison of Abu Safiya in his doctor’s scrubs to the photograph in question.
❗Breaking: NGO Monitor researcher finds photo of Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya in his Hamas uniform. 🧵
That the director of Kamal Adwan Hospital had a Hamas rank was an open secret in Arabic media, yet he was invited to write opeds for the @nytimes and was praised as a hero in an… pic.twitter.com/xPB05nNr2W— NGO Monitor (@NGOmonitor) January 31, 2026
The doctor also has something of a public profile, as NGO Monitor and The Times of Israel reported that he has written two op-eds for The New York Times, with one coming out just weeks after Oct. 7 and the other coming out in December 2024 shortly before his capture.
His identity was known as of late January into February.
AOC made her statement Friday.
Is she malicious, or just ignorant?
The lawmaker is like a toddler. Either her superficiality led her to believe this was just a well-meaning doctor, or she doesn’t care what he’s done and wants him free regardless. That’s also a toddler mentality — do something reckless and let someone else face the consequences.
Abu Safiya is not alone in moonlighting as a terrorist after a shift at the hospital.
On July 1, Jewish Breaking News reported that Ibrahim Al-Farra, a nurse at Nasser Hospital in Gaza, also served as a military commander for Hamas. Ahmed Majid Ahmed Salah was also a nurse at the hospital, and a commander of the Khan Younis Brigade, a group under Hamas.
Ayman Suleiman Abu Tayr was a nurse as well, but also served as a commander of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a group classified as a terrorist organization by the National Counterterrorism Center.
AOC should learn that just because someone is trained to save lives doesn’t mean they won’t also savagely take them.
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Sam Short is an Assistant Professor of History with Motlow State Community College in Smyrna, Tennessee. He holds a BA in History from Middle Tennessee State University and an MA in History from University College London. The views expressed in his articles are his own and do not reflect the views or opinions of Motlow State Community College.
