Two Labour MPs have been left “astounded” after they were refused entry to Israel.
A political row erupted after news of Yuan Yang and Abtisam Mohamed’s deportation broke late on Saturday.
The Israeli immigration ministry accused them of planning to “document the activities of the security forces and spread anti-Israel hatred”.
UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy described the move as “disgraceful”.
Here we look at who the two Labour MPs are – and what they have said about Israel‘s war in Gaza.
Yuan Yang
Yuan Yang, 35, moved to the UK from China at the age of four – and is the first China-born MP in the House of Commons.
She was a journalist before she was chosen as Labour’s parliamentary candidate for the newly created constituency of Earley and Woodley in Berkshire in 2023. Her family had lived there for 14 years beforehand.
Ms Yang worked for the Financial Times as their deputy Beijing bureau chief, economics correspondent, and Europe-China correspondent. She also made regular appearances on BBC News.
She co-founded Rethinking Economics, a non-profit campaign to promote students being able to choose different schools of thought on economics.
She won her seat in the 2024 election by 18,209 votes.
Just before she was elected, in May 2024, her book, Private Revolutions, was published about four women born in China in the 1980s and 1990s coming of age in a society changed beyond recognition.
She identifies as a Quaker, has been a vocal critic of the Chinese government’s 2020 Hong Kong national security law, and backed the rights of Hong Kongers in the UK.
What has she said about Israel-Gaza?
Since entering Commons for the first time in July last year – Ms Yang has only spoken on Israel-Gaza once.
On 16 January, after a ceasefire deal was declared, she called on the government to ensure journalists could continue 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 said.
“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?”
On 28 February she tweeted on the same issue, claiming “many” of her former colleagues have been “repeatedly denied entry into the region”.
She stressed 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 Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy’s intervention on the issue.
In December, she met commissioner-general Philippe Lazzarini of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) on his visit to Parliament.
Abtisam Mohamed
Abtisam Mohamed also entered parliament for the first time last year, winning her Sheffield Central seat with a 26.1% majority.
Having moved to the UK at the age of two, she is also the first Yemeni woman to be elected as a British MP.
She was raised in a conservative family – with traditional views on the place of women and girls. She only gained four GCSEs but after finishing school she went back to Yemen and received the qualifications to study further, qualifying as a teacher, then a lawyer.
She initially became a community worker then a solicitor, establishing her own human rights and immigration practice working.
In 2016, Mohamed became a local councillor and was selected as the Sheffield Central Labour candidate over comedian Eddie Izzard and former BBC Newsnight economics editor Paul Mason.
She is a member of the Commons Foreign Affairs Select Committee.
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What has she said on Israel-Gaza?
Despite only being in the Commons since July, Ms Mohamed has spoken on Israel-Gaza five times.
Most recently she gave a short speech on events in Gaza on the first day of Eid al Fitr – 30 March.
She described Israel’s actions there as “war crimes” and “crimes against humanity” and urged ministers to condemn them.
Ms Mohamed said 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 cleansing and says evacuation orders in Gaza are designed to protect civilians from its operations against Hamas.
On 17 February, Ms Mohamed tweeted to say she had spearheaded a cross-party call from 61 MPs for a UK ban on Israeli goods.
She said: “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 goods from settlements gives them legitimacy and further 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 kind of world do we live in when the war crime of forcible displacement/ethnic cleansing is so openly discussed?”
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In January she retweeted a news article about Loose Women panellist Nadia Sawalha who “questioned why the media, celebrities and influencers worldwide have not responded to events in Gaza with the same urgency as they have to the LA fires”.
In January, she spoke again in the Commons to say “ethnic cleansing is taking place before our very eyes, and the world remains 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 “crucial 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 “totally inexcusable” actions of Israel – blocking food deliveries into northern Gaza and “using starvation as a weapon of war”.
Israel has said Hamas militants use aid deliveries, hospitals, and other civilian targets to hide.
