The two Labour politicians, Abtisam Mohamed and Yuan Yang, were denied entry into the country because they planned to spread "hateful rhetoric" against Israel, according to a statement from Israel's immigration authority, which Israeli media have taken part of. The same applied to two staff members who traveled with them.
The politicians claimed to be part of an official parliamentary delegation, which turned out to be false, writes The Times of Israel. The UK's Foreign Minister David Lammy rejects this and says in a written statement on the government's website that they belonged to just such a delegation.
"It is unacceptable, counterproductive, and deeply disturbing that two British parliamentarians in a parliamentary delegation to Israel have been detained and denied entry by the Israeli authorities", says Lammy.
He adds that he has been in contact with the Israeli government to express his displeasure.
"The British government's focus is still to secure a return to the ceasefire and negotiations to stop the killing, free the hostages, and end the conflict in Gaza", concludes the Foreign Minister.
