A pro-Gaza MP who celebrated the ban on Maccabi Tel Aviv fans from their team’s away match at Villa Park has previously thrown doubt on the October 7 atrocities.

Independent Birmingham Perry Barr MP Ayoub Khan cast doubt over whether women were raped during Hamas’ massacre in 2023.

The comments came to light as he faces backlash over him welcoming the decision to ban Maccabi Tel Aviv fans from attending their team’s Europa League match against Aston Villa on November 6.

The announcement came on Thursday after West Midlands Police recommended the action to Birmingham’s Safety Advisory Group. Mr Khan has referenced how Maccabi Tel Aviv fans were involved in clashes in Amsterdam last year and the supporters were captured in footage pulling down a Palestinian flag and yelling anti-Arab chants.

Sir Keir Starmer has criticised the ban as “the wrong decision”.

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said MPs who celebrated the decision were “disgusting”.

Mr Khan led a petition to boycott the match.

He said: “From the moment that the match was announced, it was clear there were latent safety risks that even our capable security and police authorities would not be able to manage fully”.

“With so much hostility and uncertainty around the match, it was only right to take drastic measures,” Mr Khan added.

During his time as a Liberal-Democrat Councillor for Aston in October 2023, Mr Khan posted a video of himself on social media appearing to question the extent of actions committed by Hamas in Israel.

A now-deleted TikTok video posted just weeks after the attack, Mr Khan responded to claims by Israeli President Isaac Herzog that Hamas fighters were carrying “official al-Qaeda material” which showed how to build a weapon with cyanide.

The MP said Sky had interviewed the Israeli President who claimed the “Hamas militants were carrying with them very important documents”.

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“In fact, they were instructions … not how to behead babies or rape women, which I’ve yet to see evidence (of) and I’m afraid nothing has come to light,” he said.

About 1,200 people were killed in the October 7 attacks.

A UN report found Hamas attackers raped women’s corpses.

Israeli military officials claimed in the aftermath of the attacks that babies had been beheaded, although the claim was never verified and even saw former US President Joe Biden reportedly reject staff advice to refrain from repeating the unverified report.

The Lib Dems investigated Mr Khan’s conduct after the party received a complaint.

He was offered antisemitism training.

Mr Khan initially refused to take the training and said his videos were not offensive.

At the time he said: “Let me make my position absolutely clear”.

“At no stage have I considered my material on TikTok offensive, nor have I agreed with anyone that I would undergo a training course in antisemitism,” Mr Khan added.

“There is simply no need.”

It is unclear whether he took the training.

GB News has contacted Mr Khan for comment.