‘Israeli’ Regime Blocks EU Delegation from Entering Occupied Palestinian Territories

By Staff, Agencies

The Tel Aviv occupation regime blocked a European Parliament delegation from entering the occupied Palestinian territories to review the situation on the ground in the aftermath of the murder of veteran Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh.

On Sunday, the EU delegation was forced to cancel a trip to the occupied Palestinian territories after Manu Pineda, a Spanish member of the European Parliament and chair of the parliament’s delegation for relations with Palestine, was denied entry to the occupied territories.

“‘Israel’ is blocking the work of the European Parliament,” Pineda said on Sunday.

The ‘Israeli’ Foreign Ministry claimed that Pineda’s entry was not approved due to “information received from the competent authorities in ‘Israel’.”

European Parliament President Roberta Metsola, who arrived in the occupied territories for a three-day visit on Sunday, said on Twitter that she regretted the decision and would raise the issue with the ‘Israeli’ authorities.

But Grace O’Sullivan, a member of the delegation, said the group would urge a strong response to the “unprecedented move” from Metsola.

O’Sullivan said the six-member delegation was going to visit Palestinians working “in the most difficult circumstances, especially in light of the recent killing of journalist Shireen Abu Akleh.”

Abu Akleh, a veteran of the Qatar-based Al Jazeera network’s Arabic service, was shot in the head earlier this month when she was reporting on an ‘Israeli’ raid against Palestinians living in the Jenin refugee camp.

Her tragic death sent shockwaves across the globe, drawing global condemnation against the Zionist occupation regime.