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Israel bars entry to 2 Swedish MEPs over ‘genocide criticism’ in Gaza
MEP Hanna Gedin said on her Facebook page that the ‘Israeli government is afraid of our meetings with children who have experienced abuse and violence.’ (Screengrab)
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Updated 24 August 2026 19:30
Arab News
August 24, 202617:57
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- The two MEPs planned to visit the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem and meet officials from the Palestinian Authority
Swedish Left Party MEPs Jonas Sjostedt and Hanna Gedin were denied entry to Israel before their planned travel on Sunday night.
Sjostedt said on his Facebook page that the ban was based on criticism of “Israel’s genocide in Gaza and bringing those responsible to international justice.”
In 2025, the Knesset restricted the Law for Entry into Israel to prohibit those who publicly support trying Israeli citizens in foreign courts for war crimes.
The two MEPs planned to visit the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem to meet with Save the Children activists, Palestinian refugee camps, and Israeli and Palestinian human rights groups, including officials from the Palestinian Authority.
Gedin said on her Facebook page that the “Israeli government is afraid of our meetings with children who have experienced abuse and violence.
“It is a big problem that critics of the Israeli far-right government are not allowed to speak, and that journalists, aid organizations and observers are not allowed into either Gaza or the occupied West Bank,” she said.
Gedin and Sjostedt are the latest foreign officials denied entry into Israel, which has taken sweeping measures against critics of its military campaign in Gaza. Israel still refuses entry to foreign journalists into the Palestinian coastal enclave, where it has launched a military campaign since late 2023, which led to the death of at least 73,420 Palestinians and injured 174,369 others.
