Britain's Foreign Secretary David Lammy said Saturday it was "unacceptable" and deeply concerning that Israel had detained two UK lawmakers and denied them entry.

Yuan Yang and Abtisam Mohamed, from the governing Labour Party, flew from London to Israel but were blocked from entering the country and deported, British media reported.

Abtisam Mohamed and Yuan Yang said that it was "vital" parliamentarians were able to "witness, firsthand, the situation in the occupied Palestinian territory". Both Yang and Mohamed – who were first elected in 2024 – have made several interventions on the Israel-Hamas conflict in Parliament, in which both called for sanctions against Israeli ministers and goods.

They were refused entry because they intended to "spread hate speech" against Israel, the nation's population and immigration authority said. It accused them of travelling to "document the security forces".

The UK Foreign Office said the group was part of a parliamentary delegation - however Israel's immigration authority contested this claim, saying the delegation had not been acknowledged by any Israeli official.

"It is unacceptable, counterproductive, and deeply concerning that two British MPs on a parliamentary delegation to Israel have been detained and refused entry by the Israeli authorities," Lammy said in a statement.

"I have made clear to my counterparts in the Israeli government that this is no way to treat British parliamentarians, and we have been in contact with both MPs tonight to offer our support.

"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."

Since renewed military operations last month ended a short-lived truce in its war with Hamas, Israel has pushed to seize territory in the Gaza Strip in what it said was a strategy to force militants to free hostages still in captivity.

The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said 1,249 people have been killed since Israel resumed intense bombing last month, bringing the overall death toll since the war began to 50,609.

The 7 October 2023 attack on Israel that sparked the war resulted in 1,218 deaths, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

The British MPs barred from entry said the 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," they said in a joint statement.

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