Two Labour MPs say they are “astounded” to have been denied entry to Israel while on a trip to visit the occupied West Bank.

Abtisam Mohamed and Yuan Yang said it was “vital” parliamentarians were able to witness the situation in the occupied Palestinian territory first-hand.

They were refused entry because they intended to “spread hate speech” against Israel, the nation’s population and immigration authority said.

Foreign Secretary David Lammy criticised Israeli authorities, describing the move as “unacceptable, counterproductive, and deeply concerning”.

But Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said Israel had a right to “control its borders”, adding it was “significant” there were Labour MPs other countries did not want to let in.

Yang, the MP for Earley and Woodley, and Mohamed, the MP for Sheffield Central, flew to Israel from London Luton Airport with two aides on Saturday afternoon.

The Israeli immigration authority said Interior Minister Moshe Arbel denied entry to all four passengers after they were questioned. It accused them of travelling to “document the security forces”.

The Israeli embassy in London said in a statement on Saturday that the country “will not allow the entry of individuals or entities that act against the state and its citizens”.

It said Mohamed and Yang had “accused Israel of false claims” and were “actively involved in promoting sanctions against Israeli ministers”.

It also said they had supported campaigns aimed at boycotting the country “at a time when Israel is at war and under attack on seven fronts”.

The UK Foreign Office said the group was part of a parliamentary delegation. However, Israel’s immigration authority said the delegation had not been acknowledged by an Israeli official.

The Israeli embassy said the MPs “were offered hotel accommodation, which they declined” and the cost of their return flight to the UK was covered.

Israel’s Interior Ministry said the MPs left the country early on Sunday.

Mohamed and Yang said their trip had been organised with UK charities that had “over a decade of experience in taking parliamentary delegations”.

“We are two, out of scores of MPs, who have spoken out in Parliament in recent months on the Israel-Palestine conflict and the importance of complying with international humanitarian law,” the MPs said in a joint statement.

“Parliamentarians should feel free to speak truthful in the House of Commons, without fear of being targeted.”

Lammy said the Foreign Office had been in touch with both MPs to offer support, adding: “I have made clear to my counterparts in the Israeli government that this is no way to treat British parliamentarians.”

The Council for Arab-British Understanding and Medical Aid for Palestinians – the latter of which is a registered UK charity – said in a joint statement that they had organised the trip.

“This visit was part of that long-standing programme,” they said.

“When questioned, the group was clear, open and transparent about the aims and objectives of the visit, which included visiting a range of projects run by humanitarian and development organisations operating in the West Bank.

“The group had informed the UK consul general in Jerusalem of their visit and was planning to meet with them as part of the itinerary.”

Both Yang and Mohamed – who were first elected in 2024 – have made several interventions on the Israel-Hamas conflict in Parliament.

In February, Mohamed initiated a cross-party letter, signed by 61 MPs and lords, calling for a ban on goods from Israeli settlements on Palestinian territory, citing an opinion from the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

She has also criticised Israel for withholding humanitarian aid from Gaza, telling the House of Commons in October that international law “prohibits the starvation of civilians as a method of warfare”, and has mentioned humanitarian organisations’ claims of “ethnic cleansing” in Gaza.

In January, Yang spoke in favour of bringing sanctions against Israeli ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, after they suggested building Israeli settlements in northern Gaza to encourage Palestinians to leave.

She has also highlighted the dangerous conditions journalists and medical professionals face while in the Palestinian territory.

When asked about Israel’s decision, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch told the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg that countries “should be able to control their borders”.

“What I think is shocking is that we have MPs in Labour [who] other countries won’t allow through,” Badenoch said. “I think that’s very significant.”

Her comments were rebuffed by Emily Thornberry, the Labour chair of the foreign affairs select committee, who described Yang and Mohamed as “highly respected parliamentarians” and “potential leaders”.

“Israel is badly advised to try and alienate them, to humiliate them and to treat them in this way,” she told the programme.

“I think that it’s an insult to Britain and I think it’s an insult to Parliament.”

Sir Ed Davey accused Badenoch of “yet another complete shocker”.

The Liberal Democrat leader said she “has once again shown unbelievably poor judgement by failing to back two British MPs denied entry to Israel”.

Lammy called Badenoch’s comments “disgraceful”, asking her: “Do you say the same about Tory MPs banned from China?”

During the war in Gaza, there have been protests, violent incidents and raids by Israeli forces in the West Bank. Hundreds of deaths have been reported there.

Israeli troops have been engaged in an extended operation in the occupied Palestinian territory, where two Palestinians were killed on Friday.

The current war began on 7 October 2023, when Hamas fighters launched a surprise attack on Israel, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages back to Gaza.

Since then, Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry says more than 50,000 people have been killed. It said 1,309 people have died since a ceasefire ended on 18 March.

Lammy said: “The UK government’s focus remains securing a return to the ceasefire and negotiations to stop the bloodshed, free the hostages and end the conflict in Gaza.”

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has announced that the US is immediately revoking visas issued to all South Sudanese passport holders due to the African nation refusing to accept its citizens who have been removed from the US.

Rubio, in a statement on Saturday, added that the US will also block any arriving citizens of South Sudan, the world’s newest country, at US ports of entry.

He blamed “the failure of South Sudan’s transitional government to accept the return of its repatriated citizens in a timely manner”.

A cornerstone of President Donald Trump’s immigration policy is removing unlawful migrants from the US, with the promise of “mass deportations”.

“It is time for the Transitional Government of South Sudan to stop taking advantage of the United States,” said Rubio.

“Every country must accept the return of its citizens in a timely manner when another country, including the United States, seeks to remove them,” he added.

It comes as fears grow that South Sudan may again descend into civil war.

On 8 March, the US ordered all its non-emergency staff in South Sudan to leave as regional fighting broke out, threatening a fragile peace deal agreed in 2018.

South Sudanese in the US were previously granted Temporary Protected Status (TPS), which allows them to remain in the US for a set period of time.

TPS for South Sudanese in the US had been due to expire by 3 May.

South Sudan, the world’s newest nation, gained independence in 2011 after seceding from Sudan.

But just two years later, following a rift between President Salva Kiir and Vice-President Riek Machar, the tensions erupted into a civil war, in which more than 400,000 people were killed.

A 2018 power-sharing agreement between the two stopped the fighting, but key elements of the deal have not been implemented – including a new constitution, an election and the reunification of armed groups into a single army.

Sporadic violence between ethnic and local groups has continued in parts of the country.

Since returning to office, the Trump administration has clashed with international governments over deportations of their nationals from the US.

In January, Colombian President Gustavo Petro barred two US military flights carrying deported migrants from landing in his South American country.

Petro relented after Trump promised to place crippling tariffs and sanctions on Colombia.

One of the most famous South Sudanese citizens currently in the US is Duke University star basketball player 18-year-old Khaman Maluach.

A spokesman for the university said on Sunday the school is “aware of the announcement… regarding visa holders from South Sudan”.

“We are looking into the situation and working expeditiously to understand any implications for Duke students.”

Maluach, who played for the South Sudanese Olympic basketball team last summer, spent much of his life in Uganda after fleeing his violence in his homeland as a child.

The first-year student – whose Duke team was eliminated from the national championship tournament Saturday night after losing in the semi-finals to the University of Houston – is widely expected to join the ranks of the NBA after graduation.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday lamented the lack of a US response to Russia’s refusal to agree a full, unconditional ceasefire” as two people were killed in Moscow’s latest aerial bombardment.

Russia mounted a “massive” missile and drone attack on Ukraine that also wounded seven people, Zelensky said, warning that Moscow was stepping up its aerial attacks.

Ukraine has agreed to an unconditional truce in the more than three-year-long war proposed by the United States, but Russian President Vladimir Putin has refused to do so.

“We are waiting for the United States to respond — so far there has been no response,” said Zelensky.

Russia claimed the capture of a village in Ukraine’s Sumy region in a rare cross-border advance, but Ukraine branded that as “disinformation”.

Earlier, Russia “launched a massive nationwide attack on Ukraine using ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones”, said Ukraine’s first deputy prime minister Yulia Svyrydenko.

Zelensky said “the number of Russian air attacks is increasing”, which he said proved that “the pressure on Russia is still insufficient”.

In Kyiv, explosions were heard in the night and a smoke rose up from the city on Sunday morning.

One person was killed and three people were wounded, the head of the city’s military administration, Tymur Tkachenko, wrote on social media.

Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko said that “the body of a man killed in an enemy attack was discovered in Darnytsia district.”

– ‘Strong action’ needed –

A missile strike partially destroyed a building housing state foreign-language broadcasters, the Russian-language Freedom television channel reported, saying that its newsroom had been killed.

Emergency services said that fires broke out in non-residential buildings in Kyiv. In a nearby region, a man was burned when an attack sparked a house fire, the head of the military administration said.

Russia attacked Ukraine with 23 cruise and ballistic missiles and 109 drones during the night, the Ukrainian air force said.

The Air Force said it shot down 13 of the missiles and 40 drones, while 54 others caused no damage.

In the southern Kherson region, a drone killed a 59-year-old man, while in the northeastern Kharkiv region, near the border with Russia, two people were wounded in an aerial bomb attack, regional officials said.

In the western region of Khmelnytsky, authorities said air defences destroyed a missile but falling fragments damaged a house and wounded a woman.

Over the past week, Russia has launched more than 1,460 guided aerial bombs, nearly 670 attack drones, and over 30 missiles of various types on Ukraine, Zelensky said.

Russia’s defence ministry said troops “liberated” the village of Basivka, close to the border with Russia’s Kursk region. Ukraine quickly rejected the report.

“The enemy continues its disinformation campaign regarding the seizure of settlements in Sumy region or the breakthrough of the border,” Andriy Demchenko, spokesman for the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine, told AFP.

French President Emmanuel Macron echoed Zelensky’s calls for a stronger response to Russia.

“A ceasefire is needed as soon as possible. And strong action if Russia continues to try to buy time and refuse peace,” Macron said on X on Sunday.

Russia continues “to murder children and civilians”, he added.

The latest attacks came two days after a missile attack on the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rig killed 18 people including nine children.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, denounced Russia’s “reckless disregard” for human life in using “an explosive weapon with wide area effects”.

Russia on Sunday said it had struck a central artillery base and enterprises involved in producing drones.

It accused Ukraine of striking its energy infrastructure including a gas distribution facility in the Voronezh region.

US President Donald Trump is pushing the two sides to agree a partial ceasefire, but has so far failed to broker an accord acceptable to both sides.

The United States is also seeking better ties with Russia and Kremlin envoy Kirill Dmitriev in an interview with state television said that the next US-Russian contacts could be “next week”, Russian news agencies reported.

Dmitriev last week became the most senior Russian official to visit Washington since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.