MPs and MSP detained by Israel and barred from entering West Bank

Two MPs and an MSP have said they were detained by Israeli authorities for eight hours while attempting to enter the West Bank. SNP MP Lara Bird, Labour MP Clive Lewis and Scottish Greens MSP Kate Nevens said they were prevented from entering the territory on Monday, questioned, and eventually turned away. Bird, the MP for Arbroath and Broughty Ferry, said the 23-strong group was interrogated and ultimately prevented from crossing the King Hussein Bridge between Jordan and the West Bank. She said the delegation, travelling as part of a Progressive International delegation, had intended to stand alongside Palestinians being attacked for harvesting olives on their own land. According to Bird, the group had their passports seized before members were taken one by one for individual interviews with Israeli border security. She said the interviews featured a lot of shouting and screaming, and that during her own interview she was accused of hating Israel. She told BBC Scotland News: "It was an exercise in intimidation and fear. They said they had evidence that I hate Israel and that, I think, was one of the reasons they didn't want to let us in." Bird said the delegation was made to wait for a further period before being told it could not cross, and was put on a bus back to the Jordanian border. A spokesperson for the Israeli embassy in the UK claimed the group had failed to cooperate with border officials and had provided false information about the purpose of their visit. Separately, the Israeli military announced on Monday that all West Bank land crossings would be closed as part of increased security measures ahead of Tuesday's national elections, the first since the 7 October Hamas-led attack on Israel in 2023. Lewis, who represents Norwich South, said in a post on X that the group had been made to feel as though it had done something wrong. He wrote: "We knew that by crossing into the occupied Palestinian territories, we risked being detained, interrogated and turned away by Israeli authorities. And that, alas, is exactly what happened. The simple truth is we had done nothing wrong. We went to show our support for the Palestinian people and highlight the terrible injustice and violence being perpetrated against them." Nevens described the experience as frightening but said the group was able to leave safely. She said what the delegation experienced was only a small fraction of the terrifying reality Palestinians face when trying to cross the same border to reach their families or go about their lives. The incident comes amid reported tension in the region. About 2,000 Palestinian residents have been displaced in Hebron, a city in the southern West Bank, in recent days, and footage shared online appeared to show one street being completely flattened by bulldozers. That came as a reprisal for the killing of two Israeli soldiers by Palestinian gunmen. Several other attacks on Palestinians during the annual olive harvest have also been reported in the run-up to the elections. Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband told the Commons the UK government was deeply concerned about MPs and an MSP being denied access to the West Bank. He said the government had raised the issue with the Israeli authorities and had been in touch with the MPs to offer assistance. "More broadly, it's very, very important that members of this House, as they go about their business, not just in the UK but internationally, have free access so that they can actually do their duties," he said. A spokesperson for the SNP said the party was proud to stand with the Palestinian people.