A Swiss university has suspended a lecturer who brazenly showed support for the Hamas attacks in Israel that left 1,200 people dead. The unnamed lecturer was suspended after his posted comments on X, formerly Twitter, that were deemed “unacceptable” by the University of Bern.

The two offending messages have since been deleted but, according to reports cited by AFP, one of the messages hailed the Hamas attacks as the best birthday present anyone could ever receive, while the other ironized that the attacks took place on Saturday, the Jewish day of rest. The lecturer has been suspended “after a thorough evaluation of the situation, with immediate effect”, the university said.

The comments were also being examined by the Swiss authorities for possible violation of the law. The sanctioned employee said: “I have always strongly criticised violence against civilians and attacks on Jews.” “For ideological reasons, I fundamentally reject the policies of Hamas and similar groups,” he added in a brief reaction given to the newspaper, which did not name him.

Earlier this week, Air Canada grounded a pilot for wearing pro-Palestinian colours over his uniform. The pilot, identified as Mostafa Ezzo, also allegedly made profane comments about Israel in his social media posts after Hamas militants, launched a surprise attack on the West Asian nation.

In another such incident, former adult star Mia Khalifa lost a number of business deals over what some described as “horrendous” posts on X, showing support for Palestine in the Israel and Hamas war.