Israel has barred two British lawmakers, accused of intending to “spread anti-Israel hatred,” from entering the country.

Labour MPs Yuan Yang and Abtisam Mohamed were briefly held and then denied entry. Israeli immigration officials claim the pair planned to “document the activities of security forces and spread anti-Israel hatred.”

According to Israeli officials, Yang and Mohamed were traveling with two assistants who stated the purpose of their trip was to participate in an official parliamentary delegation.

However, the officials stated that immigration agents found no “evidence to support the claim… they were traveling as part of an official delegation.”

“No politicians or government officials were aware they were coming,” the Israeli officials added.

The Council for Arab-British Understanding asserts the lawmakers were part of a delegation organized by them and Medical Aid for Palestinians.

Mohamed and Yang expressed their dismay at the decision in a statement on X.

“It is vital that parliamentarians are able to witness, firsthand, the situation in the occupied Palestinian territory,” they wrote. “We are two, out of scores of MPs, who have spoken out in Parliament in recent months on the Israel-Palestine conflict and the importance of complying with International Humanitarian Law. Parliamentarians should feel free to speak truthfully in the House of Commons, without fear of being targeted.”

During an April 2 speech, Mohamed accused Israel of ethnic cleansing.

“On 30 March, the first day of Eid, Israeli attacks on Gaza killed dozens of Palestinians, adding to the death toll since Israel breached the ceasefire agreement. Israel is now in the process of enacting the largest forced displacement, ordering hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from Rafah. How will this end? Israel cannot and will not stop. Is the goal ethnic cleansing? We are witnessing that. Is the goal the complete destruction of Gaza? We are now witnessing that,” Mohamed said. 

The Jerusalem Post reports that in 2008, the UK Home Office barred Likud member Moshe Feiglin from entering the country. Former Home Secretary Jacqui Smith stated in a letter to Feiglin that his presence “would not be conducive to the public good.”

In August 2019, Israeli officials, following pressure from President Trump, blocked U.S. Reps. , D-Mich., and , D-Minn. from entering the country.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at the time that Talib and Omar’s itinerary “revealed that they planned a visit whose sole objective is to strengthen the boycott against us and deny Israel’s legitimacy.”

‘ Brie Stimson contributed to this report.

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