A dentist in Miami, Florida, was fired after video footage circulated showing him and another man tearing down the posters of hostages held by Hamas.
Dr. Ahmed ElKoussa, 31, was identified as one of the men who removed the posters of around 200 people who had been kidnapped by Hamas, a terrorist group in Gaza.
“We are very sad to see this situation upon waking up,” CG Smiles said in a post on Instagram. “Our office CG Smile is not in favor of any of the actions taken by Dr. ElKoussa.”
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“We do not support terrorist groups, actions or supporters,” the office added. “He has been removed from our staff, all of our social media pages and groups.”
Video footage shared by the organization, StopAntisemitism, showed ElKoussa and Xave Ramoul, an “Instagram model,” walking down a street in the neighborhood of Bricknell with fistfuls of crumpled posters.
An attorney for ElKoussa explained to NBC Miami the dentist had removed the posters of the hostages after he had learned about a 6-year-old Palestinian-American boy, Wadea Al-Fayoume, who had been fatally stabbed by his landlord in Illinois.
Wadea was stabbed 26 times and his mother was left injured after being stabbed more than a dozen times, due to their Muslim faith as a result of the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, according to CNN.
“He wanted to ensure that there’s no conflict here in Florida,” ElKoussa’s attorney, Hassan Shibly, said in a statement. “And when he saw those posters, he was just concerned that they may lead to an escalation in conflict. He removed them after speaking to law enforcement, saying, ‘Listen, there’s a lot of tension in the country right now. I don’t think there should be pro-Palestinian or pro-Israeli posters hanging around, they may spark conflict. So what should I do?’ They said, ‘listen, you can remove them if you feel unsafe.'”
Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel on Oct. 7, firing thousands of rockets and killing more than 250 people who had been attending a music festival near the Gaza border.
Since the attack, at least 1,400 people in Israel have been left dead, including 30 Americans. Babies were beheaded, parents were “butchered” while they were trying to “protect their children,” women were raped and entire families were left murdered by Hamas terrorists.
The Israeli military said it has contacted the families of 203 people and informed them that their loved ones are among the hostages Hamas has taken, according to The New York Times.
The fliers are part of a nationwide project by Israeli artists to show photos of missing civilians in Israel who have been kidnapped by Hamas after the attack on Israel earlier this month.