A teacher at a specialist school has been suspended after describing the mastermind of the Oct 7 attacks as a martyr.
Mohammad Dahlan, who teaches design and technology, made the remarks about Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar following his death last month.
Mr Dahlan was also reported to the police after posting online that “killing Zionists is an act of worship”.
In a string of social media posts, Mr Dahlan, who works at Burlington House School, an independent school in south west London which teaches pupils with specific learning difficulties, expressed his support for the terrorist group Hamas.
In November 2021, the Government announced that Hamas had become a proscribed terrorist organisation in the UK – meaning that its members or those who invite support for the group could be jailed for up to 14 years.
After it was alerted to the posts on Friday, Burlington House School immediately suspended Mr Dahalan and notified the Metropolitan Police.
A spokesman for the school said it had “a strict zero-tolerance policy towards any form of racism, anti-Semitism, or discriminatory behaviour, whether on or off school grounds”.
It comes as a report found that hate speech targeting Jewish people on social media surged by more than a third in the year following Israel’s military response to the Oct 7 attacks by Hamas.
The report by CyberWell, an independent non-profit organisation fighting the spread of anti-Semitism online, found calls justifying violence against Jews rose from 5.1 per cent to 13.3 per cent.
In one post on the social media platform X, Mr Dahlan posted a photo of Imad Akel, a former commander of the military wing of Hamas, who was killed by the Israel Defense Forces in 1993.
Akel is suspected of taking part in the killing of 11 Israeli soldiers, an Israeli civilian and four Palestinian informants in a series of attacks.
In the post’s caption, Mr Dahalan wrote a quote which he attributed to Akel, which read: “Killing Zionists is an act of worship through which we draw closer to God.”
In another post, responding to the death of Sinwar, the former chairman and leader of Hamas, he said: “May God have mercy on him and on all the martyrs.”
The Telegraph has seen other posts by Mr Dahlan in which he asks how to contact “pro Palestinians (sic) hackers” and seemingly refers to the Oct 7 attack as “the flood”.
His account, which has now been deleted, included a link to a GoFundMe page, which featured Mr Dahlan’s picture and name, which was asking for funds for his aunt in Gaza.
Burlington House School, which was alerted to the posts by The Telegraph, said: “As soon as we were informed of this matter, the individual was immediately suspended pending a comprehensive disciplinary investigation into potential violations of our code of conduct and social media policy.
“We have notified all relevant authorities, including the police, to ensure the matter is addressed with the seriousness it warrants.
“Our school is firmly committed to being a secular, non-discriminatory organisation that upholds the values of respect, inclusivity, and unity.
“We strive to create a safe, welcoming environment where children, young people, and adults of all backgrounds can learn and thrive together in harmony.
“This incident did not occur on school premises, and we maintain a strict zero-tolerance policy towards any form of racism, anti-Semitism, or discriminatory behaviour, whether on or off school grounds.”
A spokesman for the Community Security Trust, a charity which aims to protect and defend British Jews, said: “It is horrifying to think that a person with views such as this would be teaching children, and it is entirely right that he has been suspended.”
The Metropolitan Police has been contacted for comment.
