NHS Doctor Rahmeh Aladwan: What We Know About the Medic Arrested Over Hamas Comments

Dr Rahmeh Aladwan, a 31-year-old British-Palestinian NHS trainee surgeon, faced handcuffs on 21 October 2025 when Metropolitan Police stormed her Gloucestershire home, charging her with inciting racial hatred over pro-Hamas remarks.

As videos of her defiant arrest rack up millions of views, the medic's ordeal exposes tensions in the health service's handling of political expression.

Dr Rahmeh Aladwan's Career and Activist Beginnings

Rahmeh Aladwan qualified as a doctor and committed seven years to the NHS, training in trauma and orthopaedics with consistent acclaim for her patient care. Her British-Palestinian background ignited a drive to address Palestinian dispossession, leading to active pro-Palestine engagement via protests and X posts decrying Gaza's 'genocide'.

Aladwan portrays her advocacy as moral opposition to 'murder', amassing tens of thousands of followers who view her as an anti-genocide champion. Yet, 23 months of lobby-orchestrated persecution—doxxing, threats, defamatory articles—ensued, prompting a September 2025 CrowdJustice bid that raised over £78,000 ($103,257) from 1,900 donors to defend her licence.

'This is a war on our human rights... freedom of speech and our morality,' she asserts, vowing resistance alongside Gaza's. While supporters decry censorship, critics contend her views foster division, eroding trust in healthcare impartiality. This foundation reveals the human cost of blending vocation with conviction.

The Arrest: Charges, Quotes, and Public Backlash

Metropolitan Police arrested Aladwan at her Gloucestershire home on 21 October 2025 at 7:30 a.m., suspecting her of stirring up racial hatred, malicious communications, and incitement linked to a 21 July 2025 protest speech and social media.

The address allegedly endorsed Hamas resistance, while she hailed 7 October as 'the day Israel was humiliated. Their supremacy shattered'. Footage shows her retorting to officers: 'We're just against murder. I know you're doing this for the Israeli Jewish lobby. You can get an arrest on me before my tribunal on Thursday.'

Denied water, medication, and warmth during hours-long detention in a freezing cell, she received bail that evening. X poster @Osint613 shared the video, stating: 'This is Rahmeh Aladwan... arrested after inciting violence against Jews and praising Hamas... And she blames the police'.

The episode, two days pre-tribunal, has polarised reactions, with pro-Palestine voices crying political targeting and opponents hailing enforcement against hate speech in public forums.

Tribunal Escalation and Stakeholder Perspectives

Exonerated on 25 September 2025 by the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service for posing no patient risk, Aladwan's reprieve crumbled under Health Secretary Wes Streeting's rebuke of her 'sickening comments' unfit for the NHS, prompting regulatory antisemitism reforms.

The GMC's 23 October 2025 re-referral eyes suspension for 'unrepentant' activism, per reports. Aladwan counters: 'This is not about safety. It's about punishment... political persecution'. Her lawyers invoke free speech under European Convention Article 10, highlighting her 'impeccable record' and UN-backed critiques of Israel.

The Campaign Against Antisemitism insists: 'It is inconceivable that a Jewish person would feel safe' with her, pursuing legal challenges. Without union defence, the proceedings expose biases in handling medics' geopolitical expressions, balancing protection from hate with dissent rights amid Gaza's turmoil.

At the tribunal in Manchester on 23 October 2025, Dr Aladwan arrived wearing a gold necklace emblazoned with the number seven—a piece she had earlier captioned as 'celebratory jewellery' on social media, drawing sharp scrutiny from observers amid the antisemitism allegations.

The proceedings, re-referred by the GMC on new evidence, were adjourned midway following preliminary matters, with no immediate ruling on interim suspension despite calls for her removal from practice.