British Foreign Secretary David Lammy condemned the Israeli authorities for detaining and expelling two British lawmakers, saying the action was “unacceptable, counterproductive, and deeply worrying.”
According to British media reports, Labor MPs Yuan Yang and Abtisam Mohamed flew from London to Israel as part of their parliamentary delegation.
“This is unacceptable, counterproductive, and two British MPs against Israeli authorities were detained and refused entry on Israel’s parliamentary delegation,” Rami said in a statement issued on Saturday.
He added: “I have already told colleagues of the Israeli government that this is a way to treat British MPs and we have been in touch with the two MPs tonight to provide our support.”
Lamy stressed the UK government’s priorities in the ongoing Middle East conflict, saying: “The focus of the UK government remains to ensure a return to a ceasefire and to negotiate to stop the bleeding, release the hostages and end the conflict in Gaza.”
The incident sparked domestic political disputes, with conservative MP and opposition leader Kemi Badenoch commenting on Sky News, who was “very worried about the many rhetorics of Israeli Labour MPs” and “not surprised” by the couple.
In response, Lammy went on X (formerly Twitter), writing: “Shamely, you are cheerleading for another country that detained and deported two British MPs.”
This controversy is controversial amid escalating violence in the Gaza Strip. Since Israel resumed military operations last month to end the temporary ceasefire, it has penetrated it into Gaza as an effort to release hostages to Hamas militants.
According to the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health, 1,249 people have been killed since the offensive, with the total death toll in Gaza since the beginning of the war. According to Israeli official figures, Hamas launched a deadly attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1,218 people, mainly civilians, and the conflict broke out.
