Denmark parliament speaker to visit Gaza, West Bank

Danish Parliament Speaker Mogens Lykketoft is set to visit the Israeli-besieged Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank in defiance of the Tel Aviv regime’s outrage over his planned tour.

According to a report by Israel’s Channel 10 on Thursday, the Danish parliament speaker is scheduled to pay a visit to the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah and the Gaza Strip this weekend.

Lykketoft’s upcoming trip to the Palestinian territories has drawn angry reactions from Israeli Knesset’s leader Yuli Edelstein, who has slammed the Danish senior lawmaker for not planning to meet with Israeli officials during his visit.

“This is very serious. I do not understand how a visit to Gaza, which is controlled by Hamas, goes along with Denmark’s democratic values,” claimed Edelstein.

The Danish official’s decision has also irked the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs which said, “It seems as though the Danish Speaker finds it more important to please his voters in Denmark who identify with the Palestinians while ignoring Israel.”

The report also cited unnamed Israeli officials as saying that the Tel Aviv regime has “no intention of letting him enter Gaza,” as the Danish parliament head has chosen not to visit Israel.

The new report comes as the Tel Aviv regime faces a widening boycott campaign by some European businesses over its illegal settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territories.

Gaza has been blockaded since June 2007, a situation that has caused a decline in the standards of living, unprecedented levels of unemployment, and unrelenting poverty.

The Israeli military frequently targets Palestinians along the border with Gaza, which has remained literally cut off from the outside world because of the crippling Israeli blockade