NSW authorities are investigating a social media video featuring two nurses who claimed they would refuse to treat Israeli patients.
The footage, which has sparked outrage across political, medical, and community circles, reveals one nurse saying, “I won’t treat them, I’ll kill them,” while the other boasted about sending Israeli patients to “hell.”
Stay up to date on the latest news with The National Briefing – keeping you in the loop with news as it hits:
In response to the video, the two nurses, identified as Ahmad Rashad Nadir and Sarah Abu Lebdeh, have been sacked and will be barred from working anywhere in Australia.
The nurses had their registrations suspended by the NSW Nursing and Midwifery Council, and Australia’s health practitioner watchdog updated its public record to prevent them from practising in any healthcare context.
Police have also seized CCTV footage from Bankstown Hospital as part of an ongoing investigation into the incident.
Health Minister Mark Butler said the video made him “sick to his stomach.”
“Their sickening comments – and the hatred that underpins them – have no place in our health system and no place anywhere in Australia,” Butler said.
“Australians have a right to feel safe wherever they go, and nowhere should be safer than a hospital.”
The comments have been widely condemned by politicians, including Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton.
“When we have somebody like this who gets through the net, obviously has breached his obligation about loyalty to our country when he became an Australian citizen, and yet he has the ability to stay in our country, it should be of deep concern to every Australian,” Dutton said during an interview with 2GB Radio.
He also called for stricter limitations on the ability to strip these people of their citizenship.
“(It’s) about how we can say to these people, ‘If you don’t share our values, if you’re here and you’re enjoying the welfare system and you’re enjoying free health and free education, then at the same time you hate our country, well, I don’t think you’ve got a place here.'”
Subscribe to The Briefing, Australia’s fastest-growing news podcast on LiSTNR today. The Briefing serves up the latest news headlines and a deep dive into a topic affecting you. All in under 20 minutes.