Doctors criticise medical regulators over campaign against British-Palestinian surgeon
Hundreds of doctors in the UK have signed a petition accusing the country's medical regulator of fostering an “environment of fear” by pursuing what they say is a politically motivated campaign against the prominent British-Palestinian surgeon Ghassan Abu Sittah.
The petition, organised by Health Workers 4 Palestine, calls on the leadership of the General Medical Council (GMC) to resign after the regulator said it would challenge the outcome of an independent tribunal which cleared Abu Sittah of wrongdoing following a complaint brought by a pro-Israel advocacy group over an article he had written for a Lebanese newspaper.
The petition also raised concerns about financial governance at the regulator, after noting that legal costs in the Abu Sittah case reportedly exceed £200,000 - an amount that requires approval from the GMC’s most senior leadership.
Last week a second medical regulatory body, the Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care (PSA), said it had joined the GMC in challenging the tribunal's judgment in favour of Abu Sittah.
Earlier this year, the Medical Practitioners Tribunal (MPT) found that allegations against Abu Sittah did not prove that the doctor supported terrorism and a proscribed terrorist organisation.
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The complaint centred on an article he wrote for the Beirut-based Al Akhbar newspaper and two social media reposts, which UKLFI claimed affected his professional standing.
The article referred to the "martyrdom" of an alleged Hamas member, Ahmad Nasr Jarrar, and stated that "the people have no weapon left but revolutionary violence". Hamas is a proscribed organisation in the UK.
An interim tribunal ruled in August 2024 that there was no evidence that patient safety was at risk.
Further complaints followed, and in April 2025, the GMC referred the matter to a Fitness to Practise Tribunal. That process ultimately concluded last month with Abu Sittah being cleared of any wrongdoing.
But despite the MPT’s ruling, the GMC said it would appeal the decision to the High Court.
“We fully support doctors’ right to freely express their views. When we receive a complaint, including one about a doctor’s views, we have a legal duty to consider it, and we make an assessment of the complaint on the evidence,” a GMC spokesperson told MEE.
“We consider whether the views expressed fall within the bounds of free speech or go further and create a risk to the public, public confidence, or otherwise fall below our expected standards.”
MEE understands that, during the GMC’s investigation, Abu Sittah, who volunteered as a surgeon in Gaza earlier in Israel's war against Hamas, was barred from practicing medicine and unable to return to Gaza to provide continue providing emergency medical care.
Two regulators vs one doctor
The PSA confirmed to MEE that it was joining the GMC’s appeal, telling MEE that it considered the tribunal’s decision to be “insufficient to protect the public".
Criticising the case against him as “politically motivated”, Abu Sittah condemned the attempts to sanction him again despite the tribunal ruling in his favour.
'These appeals show that civil society organisations have been commandeered by the pro-Israel lobby in the pursuit of the defence of the genocide'
- Ghassan Abu Sittah
“These appeals show that civil society organisations have been commandeered by the pro-Israel lobby in the pursuit of the defence of the genocide, and as tools of genocide enablement,” said Sittah.
“The GMC and other institutions are part of this weaponisation.”
The PSA’s involvement came after UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI), which had submitted the original complaint against Abu Sittah to the GMC, wrote to the PSA urging it to join the appeal.
In a statement to MEE, the PSA said it routinely reviews fitness-to-practice decisions across the 10 regulators it oversees, including GMC cases, and has the power to refer decisions to court.
The PSA said it typically appeals around 25 cases per year, with only two to three involving the GMC. The authority told MEE it conducts “its own independent review” before deciding whether to intervene.
“Our decision on whether the decision is sufficient is separate to the GMC’s decision to bring their own appeal and is not influenced by it, and we do not always agree with the GMC on whether a Medical Practitioners Tribunal decision is insufficient,” a PSA spokesperson told MEE.
“But if we consider that it is, a separate decision is made thereafter on whether to join the GMC’s appeal.”
In contrast, the Doctors Association UK (DAUK) wrote to the GMC urging it to hold back. Its co-chair, Matt Kneale, told the British Medical Journal that DAUK was “disappointed" that the PSA had joined the GMC’s appeal against Abu Sittah.
Abu Sittah’s case has become a flashpoint for wider concerns over free speech within the medical profession.
During this month’s British Medical Association consultants conference, 88 percent of delegates backed a motion affirming doctors’ right to speak out on issues of public conscience, including international conflict and humanitarian law.
The petition also draws comparisons with the GMC’s widely criticised handling of the case of Dr Hadiza Bawa-Garba, which was ultimately overturned.
The fallout from that case prompted calls to remove the GMC’s power to appeal tribunal decisions - a reform recommended in a 2018 review but yet to be enacted.
Abu Sittah, a reconstructive surgeon and rector of the University of Glasgow, spent 43 days in Gaza in late 2023, volunteering with Medecins Sans Frontieres and working in hospitals including al-Shifa and al-Ahli.
In the initial weeks after Israel began its assault, Abu Sittah was the unofficial English-language representative of Palestinian doctors and surgeons treating Palestinians wounded by Israeli attacks.
He accused the Israeli military of using white phosphorus, which is illegal in built-up and populated areas such as Gaza, and deliberately targeting children.
Upon his return, he addressed a press conference hosted by the International Centre of Justice for Palestinians, where he detailed what he said were war crimes he witnessed. He was later elected rector of Glasgow University, his alma mater.
Since then, he has emerged as one of the most prominent medical voices documenting the impact of Israel’s war on Gaza’s healthcare system.
Health Workers 4 Palestine, founded by UK doctors in October 2023, has rapidly expanded into a global network spanning more than 70 cities.
A date for the High Court hearing has not yet been set.
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