Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has condemned the disturbing footage of hospital staff discussing the denial of care as ‘sickening and shameful’.

Authorities in Australia have initiated an investigation into a video that allegedly depicts two nurses at a Sydney hospital making inappropriate comments about refusing treatment to Israeli patients.

New South Wales Police Commissioner Karen Webb expressed her outrage on Thursday, describing the incident as a “new low” in light of the increasing anti-Semitic occurrences in the country.

“This level of racial hatred is unprecedented,” Webb remarked during an interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. “I am truly appalled.”

Webb noted that the Israeli content creator who initially posted the video has consented to share an unedited version of the discussion, where the two hospital employees seem to boast about not treating Israeli individuals.

“We are keen to receive that footage to conduct a thorough investigation and assess the entire content,” Webb remarked.

The shared video shows Israeli influencer Max Veifer conversing with two individuals in hospital scrubs, a man and a woman.

In the recording, the man expresses his anger over the woman being Israeli, stating, “I am so upset that you are Israeli; eventually, you are going to get killed.”

The woman reportedly responds, “I won’t treat them; I’ll kill them,” referring to Israeli patients.

At one point, the man gestured across his neck while using foul language, claiming he has sent numerous Israeli patients to Jahannam, the Arabic term for hell.

Due to the edited nature of the footage and its censored language, the complete context remains unclear, and Al Jazeera has been unable to independently verify its authenticity.

In a Sky News interview on Wednesday, Veifer mentioned that he has previously utilized social media to expose anti-Semitism, leading to job terminations.

“We got them,” he stated regarding the video involving the nurses.

In light of the incident, health authorities have suspended the two nurses, identified by local outlets as Ahmad Nadir and Sarah Abu Lebdeh.

Officials have confirmed that, so far, there is no evidence suggesting any patients were harmed while being treated by these staff members.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese characterized the footage as “disgusting, sickening, and shameful.”

New South Wales Health Minister Ryan Park affirmed that the nurses would be prohibited from working within the state’s health service in the future.

“This video is appalling. It’s shocking,” Park remarked during a press conference.

On Thursday, ABC reported that Nadir had issued an apology to Veifer and to “the Jewish community as a whole.”

“He recognizes the gravity of the situation and seeks to make amends,” said Mohamad Sakr, a lawyer representing Nadir. “He has never faced criminal charges and is of good standing within the community. It’s unfortunate that he finds himself entangled in this matter.”

Australia has been grappling with a surge in anti-Semitic incidents in recent months, including a supposedly thwarted bombing and various arson attacks on synagogues.

Advocacy organizations have reported a significant increase in instances of both anti-Semitism and Islamophobia in Australia since the October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel, which triggered a military response in Gaza.