Israel has denied two British Labour MPs entry, Politico reports. Peter Princely and Simon Ofer were part of a delegation to the occupied West Bank when they were denied entry, News.bg reports.
In a joint statement, the two MPs stressed that the purpose of the visit, organized by the Council for Arab-British Understanding, was to observe the vital medical and humanitarian work of a number of organizations, including “Medical Aid for Palestinians“. They said they were respected medical professionals and part of a delegation that was due to meet British diplomats in Jerusalem, as well as Palestinian and Israeli human rights organisations.
They said it was regrettable that "the Israeli authorities prevented them from seeing first-hand the serious challenges facing medical facilities in the region and hearing the British government's assessment of the situation on the ground".
Simon Offer told the BBC that the refusal of entry was based on "public order" grounds, after which the two MPs were escorted to a bus back to Jordan, after being detained at a passport office.
Health Minister Wes Streeting called Israel's actions "shameful but no longer surprising", while Foreign Secretary Hamish Falconer described them as "unacceptable" and added that he had been clear with the Israeli authorities about how British MPs should be treated.
The incident is part of a continuing deterioration in relations between the two countries. The UK is considering recognising a Palestinian state ahead of the UN General Assembly, which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has described as a reward for the “monstrous terrorism of Hamas“.
In April, two other Labour MPs, Abtisam Mohammed and Yuan Yan, were also denied entry to Israel.