Two British Labour Party parliamentarians barred from entering Israel
In a recent development, two newly-elected Labour MPs, Peter Prinsley and Simon Opher, have been denied entry to Israel. This denial follows a similar incident in April, where two other Labour MPs, Abtisam Mohamed and Yuan Yang, were blocked from entering the country.
The MPs were part of a parliamentary delegation that intended to visit the occupied West Bank. The purpose of the visit was to witness the medical and humanitarian work of various organizations, including Medical Aid for Palestinians. However, the Israeli authorities prevented them from seeing first-hand the challenges facing medical facilities in the region and hearing the British government's assessment of the situation on the ground.
Foreign Office Minister Hamish Falconer labeled the treatment of Prinsley and Opher as "unacceptable." In a statement, Falconer had previously been clear with the Israeli authorities that denying entry to British parliamentarians is not acceptable. Health Secretary Wes Streeting also expressed his disapproval, stating that Israel's actions were "shameful, but no longer surprising" in a tweet on Wednesday.
The Israeli Embassy in London did not respond to a request for comment by the time of publication. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a separate statement, stated that recognizing a Palestinian state would reward "Hamas's monstrous terrorism."
The denial of entry to Prinsley and Opher marks a continued deterioration of relations between the U.K. and Israel. The nation's population and immigration authority stated that the two Labour MPs intended to spread hate speech. However, the details of this allegation remain unclear.
It is worth noting that the U.K. is set to recognize a Palestinian state ahead of the United Nations General Assembly. The search results do not provide information about the name of the organization that organized the parliamentarian group's trip to the occupied West Bank.
Peter Prinsley, representing North Dorset, and Simon Opher, representing Stroud in southwest England, are both first-elected MPs from last year. Their denial of entry has sparked a wave of criticism and calls for action from various political quarters in the U.K.
As the situation unfolds, it remains to be seen how the U.K. and Israel will navigate this latest development in their relationship.
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