The European Parliament’s Palestine Delegation had scheduled an official mission to Palestine on 23 May. As President of the Delegation, Manu Pineda (IU, Spain), organised and was set to lead the mission, which included representatives from four parliamentary groups. It aimed to assess the situation of the Palestinian population, and it was the Delegation’s first mission following the COVID-19 pandemic and last year’s war in Gaza. Visits to Jerusalem, Ramallah, Hebron, Bethlehem, Nablus and the Gaza Strip were on the agenda, to meet civil society stakeholders, different political and institutional actors and media organisations to understand the situation following the assassination of Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh.

For more than a decade, Israeli authorities have denied the European Parliament access to Gaza. This Sunday, 22 May, the Members of the European Parliament were once more not allowed to enter. 

Manu Pineda, MEP comments: “Once again, Israel is putting the brakes on Parliament’s attempts and work to assess the situation of the people in Palestine. It maintains its opacity about its human rights violations against the population of occupied Palestine. The Israeli occupation cannot have control over access to Palestine. Nor can it stand in the way of the European Parliament’s work to ensure that the Palestinian people are heard”.

The President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, has also expressed her disagreement with Israel’s decision and has pledged to raise the issue with the relevant authorities and demanded that the regime respect MEPs and the European Parliament in order to maintain good institutional relations.