Why were these two British MPs stopped at Israel’s airport?

Two British Members of Parliament, Yuan Yang and Abtisam Mohamed, were denied entry to Israel on Saturday after an investigation reportedly revealed that the two wished to enter the country to document the activities of security forces and spread anti-Israel hatred, Israel's Population and Immigration Authority announced.

The two parliamentarians landed at Ben-Gurion Airport at 2:30 pm on Saturday after flying in from Luton with their two aides. At airport security, the passengers claimed to be part of an official delegation visiting Israel on behalf of the British parliament. However, the Population and Immigration Authority claimed this was untrue as no official in Israel had approved the arrival of the delegation.

During questioning, the passengers reportedly revealed that the purpose of their arrival was to "document security forces and spread hate speech against Israel."

As a result, Interior Minister Moshe Arbel decided to refuse entry to the four and subsequently ordered their removal from Israel. However, on Saturday night, British foreign secretary David Lammy confirmed it was indeed a parliamentary delegation. "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."

Abtisam Mohamed was born in Yemen. She is the first Arab woman and the first British Yemeni MP to be elected as a British MP. She currently serves as the Labour MP for Sheffield Central. In a 2 April 2025 Commons Chamber, she accused Israel of ethnic cleansing and of pursuing the destruction of Gaza. "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."

Yuan Yang is a British-Chinese Labour MP for Earley and Woodley. She is also the first Chinese-born British citizen to be elected to the UK Parliament. On 31 March, she posted on her official Facebook page, "Eid Mubarak! Next week, I'll be visiting the West Bank as part of a parliamentary delegation, and this year, I know many of us will be spending Eid thinking of those who are unable to celebrate as we are."