Labour politicians Simon Opher and Peter Prinsley have been denied entry into Israel while travelling as part of a parliamentary delegation to the occupied West Bank, sparking a diplomatic row.
The MPs were due to meet British diplomats in Jerusalem this week, along with Palestinian and Israeli human rights organisations, according to a statement from Opher's office on Tuesday.
Opher, MP for Stroud and chair of the all-party parliamentary group for health, said it was 'deeply regrettable' that Israeli authorities prevented them from seeing first-hand the challenges facing medical facilities in the region.
The incident follows a similar refusal in April, when Labour MPs Yuan Yang and Abtisam Mohamed were detained and deported after being accused of planning to 'document the activities of security forces and spread anti-Israel hatred'.
Former foreign secretary David Lammy condemned the April decision as 'unacceptable, counterproductive, and deeply concerning', noting that it targeted two British MPs on a parliamentary delegation.
