Police are continuing their investigation into two nurses who claimed they would kill Israeli patients, having raided one of the nurse’s houses.
Ahmed Rashid Nadir and Sarah Abu Lebdeh, who worked at Bankstown-Lidcombe Hospital in Sydney’s southwest, remain in the police spotlight after a video surfaced earlier this week.
The video, in which they appear to claim they won’t treat Israeli people and boast of sending them to hell, sparked shock and outrage from other nurses, government officials and the wider community.
On Saturday, police confirmed they had raided a house in western Sydney, believed to be that belonging to Mr Nadir.
“Officers attached to Strike Force Pearl executed a search warrant at a home in Bankstown about 6pm (on Friday), in connection with an ongoing investigation,” a police statement read.
“A number of items were taken for further examination.”
Police did not confirm reports they have received a full, unedited video from Israeli influencer Max Veifer, who posted the initial clip.
On Friday, NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb said police wanted the full video to inform investigators considering potential criminal charges.
But late on Friday police said they were to receive the full video.
Mr Veifer on Friday shared a longer, two-and-a-half-minute version of his conversation with the nurses in an online chat room.
In comments not aired in the shorter, edited version of the video, Mr Veifer asked if his service as an Israeli soldier was why Mr Nadir thought he would go to hell.
“Um, that’s definitely the answer, correct,” the nurse replied.
The trio then began speaking over the top of each other as they addressed his military service, Hamas and the occupied Palestinian Territories.
“One day, your time will come and you will die the most horrible death,” Ms Lebdeh says.
Mr Veifer replied: “You spread hate, we spread positivity, we spread protection, we spread peace and you spread death.”
Australia’s health practitioner watchdog has updated its public records to show both nurses, who worked at Bankstown-Lidcombe Hospital in Sydney’s southwest, had been forbidden from working in the profession nationwide “in any context”.
The pair have also had their registrations suspended by the NSW Nursing and Midwifery Council.
CCTV footage has been seized from the hospital and other staff have been interviewed by police.
The unfolding scandal has broken trust in the public health system, Premier Chris Minns has conceded, and nurses have also expressed devastation and outrage at the comments.
Mr Nadir was treated by emergency services on Thursday night following a “concern for welfare”.
He has issued an apology through a lawyer after being stood down from the hospital but separately told reporters the incident was a misunderstanding and a mistake before he was admitted to hospital.
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