Israel prevented an international delegation that included Western politicians from entering the occupied West Bank as part of a tour to meet Palestinian children, farmers and civil society leaders, The Guardian reported. The delegation, comprising 23 people, came from countries including Britain, Switzerland, the US, Greece, Ireland, the Netherlands, France, Spain and Luxembourg. “We were detained, taken aside and then interrogated … People were shouted at. We were asked why we were going in, what was happening, why our stories were one way or the other. The bottom line was it was a deeply unpleasant experience,” Clive Lewis, an MP with the UK’s governing Labour Party, told The Guardian. The delegation was set to attend Progressive International’s Second Ramallah Congress, an event to oppose Israel’s occupation of Palestine hosted in partnership with Birzeit University. The event included a series of talks among Palestinian academics, students and civil society organizations. To attend, the delegation had planned to cross the Allenby / King Hussein Bridge into the West Bank from Jordan. Former Labour MP Sam Tarry told The Guardian that Israeli authorities “made a political decision very clearly based on the fact they didn’t want people to witness what’s been going on in the West Bank, especially ahead of the elections.” The refusal to allow entry to the delegation comes amid escalating attacks by Israeli forces and settlers on Palestinian farmers and foreign media in the occupied territory. Israel Katz, the country’s defense minister, told officials earlier this month to pursue exclusion orders against activists traveling to the olive-harvest season, local media reported. At least 160 settler attacks took place in the first two weeks of October, according to the UN. Israeli forces also attacked European diplomats and a French mayor accompanying Palestinian farmers. Lara Bird, an MP with the Scottish National Party, said: “I came to stand alongside Palestinians being attacked for harvesting olives on their own land. Instead, we were turned away at the border with no reason given. “It is more important now than ever that we bear witness and show our solidarity. But we were prevented from doing so. “If Israel has nothing to hide, why is it so determined to stop us seeing what is happening in the occupied West Bank?” Laila Hazaineh, a political coordinator for Progressive International, said: “Despite escalating violence, our delegation remained determined to cross to Palestine to participate in the olive harvest, and actively engage with Palestinian communities and institutions. Every refusal of entry will only strengthen this determination.”