Israel Bars Two Swedish MEPs from West Bank Visit

Israel confirmed on Monday that it had denied entry to two Swedish members of the European Parliament from the Left Party, Jonas Sjöstedt and Hanna Gedin. The lawmakers were turned away at Ben Gurion Airport on Sunday while seeking to visit the occupied West Bank, according to Euractiv.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry said the pair had “consistently acted against Israel”, including by calling for international legal proceedings against Israelis. It also accused them of spreading false allegations of genocide, deliberate starvation and the intentional targeting of children and medical personnel.

UN investigators alleged in June that Israel was deliberately targeting Palestinian children as part of an ongoing genocide in Gaza. Israel rejected the finding and accused Hamas of using Palestinian children as human shields.

Sjöstedt said the MEPs had planned to meet human rights and charitable organizations, including Save the Children, and visit refugee camps. The EU and Swedish embassies in Israel protested the decision.

Rawhi Fattouh, president of the Palestinian National Council, criticized the denial of entry as an attempt to silence criticism of the occupation and called on European parliaments to speak out.

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