Two Labour MPs have been left “astounded” after they had been refused entry to Israel.
The Israeli immigration ministry accused them of planning to “document the activities of the security forces and spread anti-Israel hatred”.
UK Overseas Secretary David Lammy described the transfer as “disgraceful”.
Right here we have a look at who the 2 Labour MPs are – and what they’ve stated about Israel’s battle in Gaza.
Yuan Yang
Yuan Yang, 35, moved to the UK from China on the age of 4 – and is the primary China-born MP within the Home of Commons.
She was a journalist earlier than she was chosen as Labour’s parliamentary candidate for the newly created constituency of Earley and Woodley in Berkshire in 2023. Her household had lived there for 14 years beforehand.
She co-founded Rethinking Economics, a non-profit marketing campaign to advertise college students with the ability to select totally different faculties of thought on economics.
She received her seat within the 2024 election by 18,209 votes.
Simply earlier than she was elected, in Could 2024, her guide, Non-public Revolutions, was revealed about 4 ladies born in China within the Nineteen Eighties and Nineteen Nineties coming of age in a society modified past recognition.
She identifies as a Quaker, has been a vocal critic of the Chinese language authorities’s 2020 Hong Kong nationwide safety legislation, and backed the rights of Hong Kongers within the UK.
What has she stated about Israel-Gaza?
Since coming into Commons for the primary time in July final 12 months – Ms Yang has solely spoken on Israel-Gaza as soon as.
On 16 January, after a ceasefire deal was declared, she referred to as on the federal government to make sure journalists may proceed to work safely in Gaza.
“The ceasefire deal gives families in Israel and Palestine, as well as their relatives in my constituency, hope for longer-lasting peace and security,” she stated.
“However, there can be no security without accountability, and there is no accountability without scrutiny. This war has been the deadliest on record for journalists, so what can the government do to ensure that all journalists in Palestine, including my former colleagues, can do their job without fear for their lives?”
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On 28 February she tweeted on the identical concern, claiming “many” of her former colleagues have been “repeatedly denied entry into the region”.
She pressured that: “Palestinian journalists stuck in Gaza have been working in deadly conditions and fear being targeted while working. Media freedom and access is a core part of democracy, and reporters must be allowed into Gaza to be able to accurately report on the continued humanitarian situation.”
She welcomed Tradition Secretary Lisa Nandy’s intervention on the problem.
In December, she met commissioner-general Philippe Lazzarini of the United Nations Reduction and Works Company for Palestine Refugees within the Close to East (UNRWA) on his go to to Parliament.
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6:23
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Abtisam Mohamed
Abtisam Mohamed additionally entered parliament for the primary time final 12 months, profitable her Sheffield Central seat with a 26.1% majority.
Having moved to the UK on the age of two, she can be the primary Yemeni lady to be elected as a British MP.
She was raised in a conservative household – with conventional views on the place of girls and women. She solely gained 4 GCSEs however after ending faculty she went again to Yemen and obtained the {qualifications} to check additional, qualifying as a trainer, then a lawyer.
She initially turned a group employee then a solicitor, establishing her personal human rights and immigration observe working.
She is a member of the Commons Overseas Affairs Choose Committee.
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What has she stated on Israel-Gaza?
Regardless of solely being within the Commons since July, Ms Mohamed has spoken on Israel-Gaza 5 occasions.
Most not too long ago she gave a brief speech on occasions in Gaza on the primary day of Eid al Fitr – 30 March.
She described Israel’s actions there as “war crimes” and “crimes against humanity” and urged ministers to sentence them.
Ms Mohamed stated the world is witnessing “forced displacement”, “ethnic cleansing”, “the complete destruction of Gaza”, and “permanent occupation of Gaza and the West Bank”.
Israel denies ethnic cleaning and says evacuation orders in Gaza are designed to guard civilians from its operations towards Hamas.
On 17 February, Ms Mohamed tweeted to say she had spearheaded a cross-party name from 61 MPs for a UK ban on Israeli items.
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She stated: “The ICJ’s [International Court of Justice] advisory opinion has said that third party states shouldn’t aid or assist Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestinian territory.
“Importing items from settlements provides them legitimacy and additional entrenches the occupation.”
She compared the situation to the UK’s ban on imports from Crimea.
Responding to Donald Trump’s plans for a “Gaza riviera” in February, Ms Mohamed tweeted a clip of the president with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying: “What sort of world can we stay in when the battle crime of forcible displacement/ethnic cleaning is so brazenly mentioned?”
In January, she spoke again in the Commons to say “ethnic cleaning is happening earlier than our very eyes, and the world stays silent” – and to call on the government to urge Israel to allow evacuated Palestinians to return to northern Gaza.
In November last year she praised the International Criminal Court (ICC)’s decision to pursue South Africa’s case against Israel for crimes against humanity, describing it as a “essential step”. Israel denies all the accusations.
On 15 October last year, she stood up in the Commons to speak on Gaza for the first time, condemning the “completely inexcusable” actions of Israel – blocking food deliveries into northern Gaza and “utilizing hunger as a weapon of battle”.
Israel has stated Hamas militants use assist deliveries, hospitals, and different civilian targets to cover.
