Exclusive: Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar to visit UK this week
Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Saar is set to visit the UK this week, five sources told Middle East Eye.
The sources said Saar's trip will be unannounced before his arrival in the United Kingdom.
MEE earlier reported that Saar was expected to visit Britain in March, but the trip did not go ahead after Israel renewed its assault on Gaza.
The visit this week by such a high-ranking Israeli minister will be seen as controversial given warrants issued by the International Criminal Court against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Saar himself recently attempted to justify Israel’s decision to cut off aid to Gaza, claiming without evidence that humanitarian assistance fuels Hamas.
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"Aid that goes to Hamas is not humanitarian," Saar said on 4 March, portraying the blockade as legitimate, despite it being considered an act of collective punishment under international law.
A key player in Netanyahu's government, he is an avowed opponent of the two-state solution and said last November that "creating a Palestinian state today would be tantamount to creating a Hamas state".
Saar's expected visit also comes amid strained relations between the UK and Israel. The British government has criticised Israel's blockade of Gaza, including its decision to cut electricity from the Gaza Strip.
It warned that the policy "risks breaching Israel’s obligations under international humanitarian law".
Last week a diplomatic row broke out between the UK and Israel when Israeli authorities denied entry to two Labour MPs.
Labour MPs Abtisam Mohamed and Yuan Yang arrived in Israel as part of a parliamentary delegation, but were refused entry on the grounds that they intended to "spread hate speech" against the country and "document the security forces", according to Israel's Population and Immigration Authority.
British Foreign Secretary David Lammy slammed the Israeli government, saying the move was "unacceptable, counterproductive and deeply concerning".
MEE has contacted the UK Foreign Office for comment.
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