Australia batsman Usman Khawaja has condemned a radio station’s decision to drop cricket journalist Peter Lalor from its coverage of the Sri Lanka test series over social media posts related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Reuters reports.

Australian radio station SEN confirmed it had parted ways with Lalor, the former chief cricket writer of The Australian newspaper, after dialogue with him about some of the commentary on his social media.

Lalor’s feed on X includes re-posts of news stories about Israeli attacks in Gaza and accusations of genocide levelled at the Israeli government. Pakistan-born Khawaja, who has been vocal in his support for Palestinians, wrote on Instagram that Lalor “deserved better”.

“Standing up for the people of Gaza is not anti-Semitic nor does it have anything to do with my Jewish brothers and sisters in Australia, but everything to do with the Israeli government and their deplorable actions,” Khawaja said.

“It has everything to do with justice and human rights. Unfortunately hatred towards the Jewish and Muslim community will always exist.”