A Palestinian doctor who said the 7 October Hamas attacks represented the day Israel was “humiliated” has been re-referred to a medical tribunal.
Dr Rahmeh Aladwan, a trainee trauma and orthopaedic surgeon, was investigated by an interim orders tribunal in September over her social media posts.
On 25 September the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) ruled it would not impose interim restrictions against Aladwan, saying it did not believe the complaints against her were “sufficient to establish that there may be a real risk to patients”.
Her lawyer argued that Aladwan was exercising her freedom of speech to oppose crimes by Israel, including those identified by the UN. He told the regulator she was a Palestinian doctor with an impeccable clinical record and was, herself, a direct victim of genocide and of dispossession.
The General Medical Council (GMC) has now re-referred Aladwan for another interim orders tribunal while it continues its investigation.
The GMC can make such a referral where it believes an interim order may be needed owing to immediate risk to public protection.
Aladwan’s recent posts on X include: “October 7. The day Israel was humiliated. Their supremacy shattered at the hands of the children they forced out of their homes. The children who watched foreign jews execute their loved ones, rape their land and live on their stolen soil.”
Earlier this week the Campaign Against Antisemitism accused Aladwan of waging a “campaign of hatred against British Jews”. It also threatened to launch a legal challenge against last month’s decision not to censure her. It said: “It is inconceivable that a Jewish person would feel safe receiving treatment from this doctor.”
On Wednesday, the health secretary, Wes Streeting, said “sickening comments” had no place in the NHS “and action needs to be taken to root the evil of racism out”. Streeting also said he would overhaul the way medical regulators investigate cases of antisemitism.
The interim orders tribunal hearing will take place on 23 October.
