Israel bars international delegation from entering West Bank during olive harvest - report

Israel barred a 23-person multinational delegation, including UK MPs, from entering the West Bank during the olive harvest season. The group was held at the Allenby crossing for nine hours and refused entry without explanation. The delegation planned to attend Progressive International's Second Ramallah Congress.

Israel barred a 23-person multinational delegation, including British MPs, from entering the West Bank during the olive harvest season, according to a report in The Guardian. The group, which included delegates from France, Spain, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Greece, Denmark, Ireland, and the United States, was held at the Allenby crossing for about nine hours before being refused entry without explanation. They planned to attend Progressive International's Second Ramallah Congress in November, hosted with Birzeit University. UK Labour MP Sam Tarry said the decision was political, aimed at preventing witnesses to conditions in the West Bank ahead of elections. MP Clive Lewis described being detained and interrogated. The prohibition followed an order by Defense Minister Israel Katz at the beginning of October to pursue administrative removal orders against activists deemed a threat to public order, following a request from Yesha Council chairman Yisrael Ganz. The UN recorded at least 160 settler attacks on Palestinians in the first two weeks of the olive harvest, and the Palestinian Ministry of Agriculture reported $157 million in losses and 286,000 olive trees destroyed since October 2023.