Israel denies entry to two British lawmakers accused of planning to 'spread anti-Israel hatred'
Israel has denied entry to two British lawmakers who were accused of planning to "spread anti-Israel hatred."
The two Labour Members of Parliament, Yuan Yang and Abtisam Mohamed, were briefly detained over the weekend and denied entry to Israel because they allegedly had plans to "document the activities of security forces and spread anti-Israel hatred," Israel's immigration agency told Sky News.
Israeli officials told the outlet that Yang and Mohamed were with two assistants on the trip, who said they were going to Israel "as part of an official parliamentary delegation."
The officials said that immigration agents did not find "evidence to support the claim... they were traveling as part of an official delegation."
"No politicians or government officials were aware they were coming," the Israeli officials added.
The Council for Arab-British Understanding claimed that the lawmakers were part of a delegation organized by the group as well as Medical Aid for Palestinians.
Mohamed and Yang posted in a statement to X they were "astounded" at the decision by Israeli authorities.
A joint statement from @YuanfenYang and me on the Israeli authorities' refusal to admit us entry to the occupied West Bank: pic.twitter.com/i9Ild0RDAv
"It is vital that parliamentarians are able to witness, firsthand, the situation in the occupied Palestinian territory," they wrote. "We are two, out of scores of MPs, who have spoken out in Parliament in recent months on the Israel-Palestine conflict and the importance of complying with International Humanitarian Law. Parliamentarians should feel free to speak truthfully in the House of Commons, without fear of being targeted."
During an April 2 speech, Mohamed accused Israel of ethnic cleansing.
"On 30 March, the first day of Eid, Israeli attacks on Gaza killed dozens of Palestinians, adding to the death toll since Israel breached the ceasefire agreement. Israel is now in the process of enacting the largest forced displacement, ordering hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from Rafah. How will this end? Israel cannot and will not stop. Is the goal ethnic cleansing? We are witnessing that. Is the goal the complete destruction of Gaza? We are now witnessing that," Mohamed said.
In August 2019, Israeli officials blocked U.S. Reps. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., and Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., from entering the country following pressure from President Donald Trump.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement at the time that Talib and Omar's itinerary "revealed that they planned a visit whose sole objective is to strengthen the boycott against us and deny Israel's legitimacy."
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