Peter Prinsley and Simon Opher said they were travelling as part of a visit organised by the Council for Arab-British Understanding to observe medical and humanitarian work carried out by various organisations
Two Labour MPs heading to the West Bank as part of a UK parliamentary delegation claim they were barred from entering Israel.
Peter Prinsley and Simon Opher said they were travelling as part of a visit organised by the Council for Arab-British Understanding to observe medical and humanitarian work carried out by various organisations, including Medical Aid for Palestinians.
“It is deeply regrettable that Israeli authorities prevented them from seeing first-hand the grave challenges facing medical facilities in the region and from hearing the British government’s assessment of the situation on the ground,” they said in a joint statement.
The duo were travelling as part of a delegation which was also due to meet British diplomats in Jerusalem, as well as Palestinian and Israeli human rights organisations. This comes amid increasing tension between the UK and its long-time ally, with Sir Keir Starmer set to recognise Palestine as a state by the end of the month due to Israel’s continued devastation of Gaza’s civilian population – this week branded a genocide by a UN commission.
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The Foreign Office and the Israeli Embassy in London have been contacted for comment.
Both MPs have extensive backgrounds in healthcare. Stroud MP Dr Opher chairs an all-party parliamentary group on health and worked as a GP, while Dr Prinsley, MP for Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket, worked as an NHS surgeon.
Dr Opher told the BBC the pair were detained in a passport office and given a “legal form insisting that we leave the country” before being “escorted to a bus” back to Jordan.
“It’s very disappointing. We are both doctors and we were really just going to look at healthcare facilities in the West Bank to see if there was anything we could do to support them,” he said. “We weren’t in any way trying to undermine the Israelis, just trying to see what we could do in the West Bank” where, he said, they had been told healthcare was getting increasingly difficult.
He revealed that he was not being admitted under “public order” grounds.
In April, two Labour MPs claimed they were denied entry to Israel, with then Foreign Secretary David Lammy slamming the move as “deeply concerning” and “unacceptable”.
In April, Labour MPs Yuan Yang and Abtisam Mohamed alleged they were denied entry to Israel, with then-Foreign Secretary David Lammy criticising the move as “deeply concerning” and “unacceptable.
“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,” Mr Lammy expressed at the time.
“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.”