London: UK Health Secretary Wes Streeting has criticized Israel’s “shameful but not surprising” actions after two medically trained Members of Parliament were denied entry into the occupied West Bank.
According to Palestine News and Information Agency – WAFA, Streeting expressed his disapproval in a post on X, highlighting his past experiences on delegations to Israel and Palestine, including with MedicalAidPalCaabu. He lamented the Israeli government’s treatment of the respected clinicians and MPs, Peter Brinsley and Simon Opher, as both shameful and unsurprising.
Streeting’s post also included a statement from the Council for Arab-British Understanding (CAABU), which revealed that Israel had barred the MPs from entering the West Bank. The visit, organized by CAABU, aimed to allow Members of Parliament to observe the essential medical and humanitarian operations conducted by various organizations, including Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) in the region.
The statement emphasized that Simon Opher and Peter Prinsley, esteemed medical professionals, were part of a delegation scheduled to meet British diplomats in Jerusalem and engage with Palestinian and Israeli human rights groups. “It is deeply regrettable that the Israeli authorities prevented them from seeing first-hand the grave challenges facing medical facilities in the region and from hearing the British government’s assessment of the situation on the ground,” the statement read.
Gaining access to the occupied Palestinian Territory requires passing through crossings controlled by Israel, the occupying power. Over recent months, Israel has barred numerous parliamentarians and other figures from entering Palestine, often due to their opposition to the Israeli actions in the Gaza Strip.
