Unacceptable: UK on detention of 2 Labour Party MPs in Israel

The British government has described as “unacceptable” the detention of two Labour Party members of parliament in Israel after being denied entry for a proposed visit to the West Bank as part of a parliamentary delegation.

Abtisam Mohamed, MP for Sheffield Central in northern England, and Yuan Yang, MP for Earley and Woodley in south-east England, said in a joint statement posted on social media on Sunday that they were “astounded” at the unprecedented step.

Israel's immigration authority said the entry had been denied because the UK government MPs intended to “spread hate speech” against Israel and were travelling to “document the security forces” amid the ongoing conflict with Hamas.

“It is unacceptable, counterproductive, and deeply concerning that two British MPs on a parliamentary delegation to Israel have been detained and refused entry by the Israeli authorities,” said UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy.

“I have made clear to my counterparts in the Israeli government that this is no way to treat British parliamentarians, and we have been in contact with both MPs tonight to offer our support. The UK government's focus remains to secure a return to the ceasefire and negotiations to stop the bloodshed, free the hostages, and end the conflict in Gaza,” he said.

The MPs said their trip was organised with UK charities that had “over a decade of experience in taking parliamentary delegations”.

Yemen-born Mohamed and British Chinese Yang have both made several interventions in the Israel-Hamas conflict in the House of Commons since being elected for the first time last year.

“We are two, out of scores of MPs, who have spoken out in the parliament in recent months on the Israel-Palestine conflict and the importance of complying with international humanitarian law,” their joint statement reads.

“Parliamentarians should feel free to speak truthfully in the House of Commons, without fear of being targeted,” they said.

Mohamed was born in Yemen. She is the first Arab woman to be elected as a British MP.

Yang is the first Chinese-born British citizen to be elected to the UK Parliament.