Ghassan Abu Sittah investigated for comments over Gaza war

British-Palestinian doctor Ghassan Abu-Sittah is being investigated by a regulator over allegedly controversial comments he made about Israel's war on Gaza.

According to The Telegraph, the General Medical Council (GMC) has opened an investigation after at least one complaint was submitted to the regulator over his comments.

The GMC told the publication that while it cannot provide details on individual concerns or complaints, it will "investigate serious concerns that suggest patient safety or the public's confidence in doctors may be at risk and will take action where necessary".

The GnasherJew website urged its followers to report Dr. Abu-Sittah to the regulator for publishing "controversial online posts" in May.

While it is unknown what comments Dr. Abu-Sittah is being investigated for, the doctor, in the past, has been criticised by Israel's supporters for pro-Palestine comments he made on social media.

In 2019 and 2022, the doctor was accused of praising the 1987 attack in which two members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine killed 30 Israeli soldiers.

The Palestinian doctor has said he regrets his "emotive language" since then.

Dr. Abu-Sittah gained prominence after sharing his account of working in Gaza's hospitals after Israel launched its brutal assault on Gaza on 7 October.

He spent seven weeks at Al-Shifa and Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in Gaza, treating wounded patients.

The medic has given evidence to the UK's Metropolitan Police War Crimes Unit in London, which is gathering evidence for an ICC investigation into war crimes committed during the war.

The plastic surgeon had also recently had his Europe-wide travel ban overturned.

Dr. Abu-Sittah was denied entry into France in May, where he was meant to speak at the French Senate about his experiences working in Gaza, being told that Germany had banned his entry into Europe for a year.

Germany had previously denied the doctor entry to speak at a Palestine solidarity conference in the capital, Berlin.

Officials in the Netherlands told Dr. Abu-Sittah he would not be allowed to enter the country to give a similar talk on 15 May.

© Al-Araby Al-Jadeed