A delegation of European Union parliament members has canceled its trip to Jerusalem and Ramallah after Israel barred two lawmakers and two staffers from entering the country, the EU’s mission to the Palestinians told The Times of Israel in a statement on Monday.

The Interior Ministry said earlier in the day that it had denied entry to French EU MP Rima Hassan over her support for boycotts against Israel, but the Jerusalem-based EU mission told The Times of Israel that the delegation’s leader, MP Lynn Boylan, was also denied entry along with two other EU staffers accompanying the lawmakers.

While the Interior Ministry statement said that Hassan was banned over her public support for boycotting Israel, the EU mission said that Israeli authorities did not provide any reasons to any of the officials who were denied entry.

The three other MPs traveling with Boylan and Hassan were allowed into Israel, but they will return to Europe on the first flight tomorrow morning, as Boylan decided to cancel the delegation entirely, the EU mission said.

The Interior Ministry had previously said Hassan would not be allowed to enter the country, accusing her of acting “on a regular basis to promote the boycott against Israel” and pointing to her prior public statements.

Hassan has previously called Israel a “terrorist” state and accused its military of having “coldly executed Palestinian children,” while advocating for it to “leave Palestine.”

She is currently facing a court case in France on the charge of “apology for terrorism” after saying in a true-false interview given in the wake of Hamas’s devastating October 7, 2023, attack on Israel that it was “true” that the terror group’s actions were legitimate.

She later claimed her words were taken out of context.

The diplomatic incident came as Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar was in Brussels to meet with EU leadership and the bloc’s 27 foreign ministers, as part of the annual Association Council meeting — Israel’s first meeting with the Council since 2022.

The talks, which Sa’ar was co-chairing with EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, focused on the humanitarian situation in Gaza, Israeli-Palestinian relations and changing regional dynamics, amid last month’s fragile ceasefire and hostage deal between Israel and the Hamas terror group.

The talks were held as the bloc considers its potential role in the reconstruction of Gaza following US President Donald Trump’s announcement of his plan to take over the Strip and permanently displace its residents.

Ahead of Sa’ar’s meetings with the EU officials, the bloc’s member countries, some of which have harshly criticized Israel over the war in Gaza, negotiated a compromise position that praised areas of cooperation with Israel while also raising concerns.

The bloc has been split on Israel amid the war in Gaza, sparked when thousands of Hamas-led terrorists stormed southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages.

Some EU countries, such as Germany, Hungary and Italy, have struck a pro-Israel stance, while others, such as Spain, Ireland and Slovenia, have harshly criticized the destruction in Gaza during the subsequent war on Hamas.

In February 2024, the leaders of Spain and Ireland sent a letter to the European Commission asking for a review of whether Israel was complying with its human rights obligations under the 2000 EU-Israel Association Agreement, which provides the basis for political and economic cooperation between the two sides.

Over Israel’s opposition, Spain, Ireland and Slovenia have in the past year recognized Palestinian statehood and applied to join South Africa’s case in the International Court of Justice accusing Israel of genocide. Sa’ar shuttered Israel’s embassy in Ireland in December, a month after taking office.

Israel strongly rejects the accusation of genocide, saying it only targets terror operatives and seeks to minimize civilian fatalities, and stressing that Hamas uses Gaza’s civilians as human shields, fighting from civilian areas including homes, hospitals, schools and mosques.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.