Dr. Adam Hamawy speaks during an AFP interview after meetings at the White House and on Capitol Hill, in Washington DC, on June 14, 2024. —DREW ANGERER–AFP via Getty ImagesAn Egyptian-born surgeon and U.S. Army veteran who was operating on children in Gaza just two years ago is all but assured a seat in Congress next year after winning Tuesday's Democratic primary for New Jersey’s 12th Congressional District.Dr. Adam Hamawy made his opposition to Israel’s influence in American politics a key feature of his candidacy. His win over 12 other candidates to replace retiring Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman was also a victory for a pro-Palestine Super PAC that launched earlier this year with a goal of countering the influence of the powerful American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).Hamawy won with 28% of the vote, and is widely expected to win the general election in November in this solid Democratic district. He would become the fifth Muslim congressional lawmaker in the House. “You will hear many people take credit for this victory, but don’t forget that you, the people in this room, who believed and stayed with us and stayed the course, is what gave us victory,” Hamawy told his supporters following the win.Hamawy’s campaign, which advocated for Medicare for all, abolishing ICE, and imposing a weapons sale ban on Israel, drew endorsements from progressive lawmakers such as Sen. Bernie Sanders, and Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, and Rashida Tlaib. Here’s what to know about Adam Hamawy. Who is Adam Hamawy? Adam Hamawy, 56, was born in Egypt and moved to the U.S. when he was seven months old. He now lives in Princeton, New Jersey, and is a father of four children. Hamawy served in the Army for eight years as a surgeon, including a nine-month deployment to Baghdad during the Iraq War from 2004 to 2005. During his deployment, he operated on hundreds of service members and civilians, including Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, who credited Hamawy for saving her life when her Blackhawk helicopter got shot down. “It is because of his sacrifice, that I’m not only alive — but I’ve been able to go on to serve my country and the people of Illinois in the United States Senate,” the senator,” Sen. Duckworth said in her endorsement statement. In 2024, Hamawy traveled to Gaza as a part of the volunteer mission organized by the Palestinian American Medical Association and the World Health Organization. He told the Associated Press that he performed 120 surgeries while he was there, more than half of them on children, and all but one of them for treatment and reconstruction of war wounds. During his volunteer mission, Hamawy said two of his colleagues were killed by Israeli missile strikes. In May 2024, Hamawy, along with the rest of the group of volunteers, were trapped in Gaza because of a border closure in Rafah. He eventually made it out to Jordan in late May 2024. Win for Anti-AIPAC Super PACHamawy was backed by American Priorities PAC, a new Pro-Palestine Super PAC that aims to counter the influence of the AIPAC, a powerful lobbying group that has supported candidates who back U.S.-Israel alliance. Launched in February, public filings show that American Priorities PAC spent more than $1.5 million on digital and TV advertisements promoting Hamawy’s candidacy. The PAC previously told local media that it intended to spend “approximately $2 million” on the 12th district campaign in total, the most amount of money it has spent on a candidate thus far. The super PAC has backed a handful of Democratic candidates nationwide with mixed results. Ahead of North Carolina's primary in March, the group spent $500,000 in support of progressive candidate Nida Allem, who lost to incumbent Rep. Valerie Foushee. The super PAC also backed Chris Rabb, an anti-AIPAC state lawmaker who won the Democratic nomination for Pennsylvania 3rd congressional district, a solid Democratic seat. For decades, AIPAC has wielded tremendous influence over U.S. congressional elections, spending millions in key elections every cycle. But in the wake of the war in Gaza as well as the war in Iran, the organization has become a lightning-rod issue in multiple Democratic races this year, reflecting a drop in public sentiment toward Israel as well as AIPAC’s influence. A recent Pew Research Center poll found six in ten Americans have an unfavorable opinion of Israel. Among Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents, 80% had a somewhat or very unfavorable view. Hamawy’s tie to the “blind sheikh”During the primary race, Hamawy was criticized by one of his opponents over his ties to Omar Abdel-Rahman, a convicted terrorist whose followers conducted the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, also known as “Blind Sheikh”. Court testimony shows that Hamawy met Adbel-Rahman in 1991 when Hamawy was in middle school. Hamawy ultimately traveled with him for conference appearances and provided translation help. Hamawy, who was not charged with any crime himself, later testified in support of Abdel-Rahman during a federal trial.When asked about his ties to the blind sheikh during the campaign, Hamawy told a local outlet that he condemns extremism and violence of all kinds. “Thirty years ago, he was a well-known person in the community. He spoke all over New Jersey, and he was a blind old man in need of service,” Hamawy said, adding, "As a Muslim, they're always going to find something to attack.”