Unionist delegation on tour in Israel set to visit Gaza border and festival massacre site
A delegation of unionists including the education minister are set to visit the site of the Nova festival massacre in Israel this week.
The group, including members from all three main unionist parties, embarked on their trip to Israel last week, lasting several days.
The trip was organised and funded by the Israeli government.
Those taking part are DUP education minister Paul Givan, DUP MP Sammy Wilson, DUP MLA David Brooks, and DUP Newtownabbey councillor Ben Mallon.
Representing the UUP is Steve Aiken MLA, while the TUV's delegate is party deputy leader and Belfast councillor Ron McDowell.
There are also delegates from elsewhere in the UK.
Members of the delegation today visited the Israeli parliament, the Knesset.
Tomorrow they plan to visit the Gaza Envelope and western Negev desert region.
This will entail a visit to the Gaza border with the Israeli military, as well as Israeli communities within a few miles of the border.
According to the official itinerary, "these towns and kibbutzim represent resilience under constant threat, embodying both Israel's pioneering spirit and the heavy toll of the ongoing conflict".
Later, the group is to visit the site of the Nova music festival, which was stormed by Hamas during October 7, becoming arguably the most well-known massacre site.
On Wednesday, they will meet families of abductees and October 7 casualties.
The Northern Irish delegation is set to fly home on Thursday.
Sammy Wilson posted online that his six-day "fact finding" trip was to hear "the truth of what is happening in Israel and Gaza, rather than the filtered propaganda from the BBC, and the scurrilous lies of the terrorist supporting Gaza mob marches".
Ron McDowell said today in a statement: "The Middle East has become a surprisingly frequent topic at Belfast City Hall. Every week, we have seen pro-Palestinian rallies.
"Sinn Fein have gone so far as to question Invest NI’s engagement with Israeli investors and struggle to acknowledge thousands of American jobs coming to Northern Ireland simply because the United States supports Israel.
"Against that backdrop, four weeks ago, the Israeli Embassy in London reached out to me.
"They were aware of the rise in antisemitism across the UK and the wave of pro-Palestinian propaganda accompanying it.
"They invited me to come to Israel as part of a delegation of politicians from Northern Ireland, to see with my own eyes what happened on October 7th - to document it for myself and to share the unfiltered truth with people back home.
“I was pleased to accept that invitation and over the past number of days I’ve been meeting with those who lived through unthinkable events — ordinary people who have suffered loss, devastation, and displacement.
“I spoke with local leaders from a kibbutzim on Israel’s northern border who recounted their experiences living under constant threat from Hezbollah.
"The human toll has been immense.
"Fifty thousand Israeli citizens were evacuated from their homes during the recent conflict.
"Across the border, 80,000 Lebanese civilians were also forced to flee north as Hezbollah’s actions brought destruction on their own communities.
“I spoke to one man whose home had been destroyed by a rocket. He wasn’t filled with bitterness — he was a builder who wanted only to rebuild his home, his village, his community.
"He told me he had much to teach even the Lebanese people about how to live off the land and prosper peacefully. It was a profoundly humbling conversation, one that will stay with me for a long time."
He also visited a Druze community near the Lebanon border, where a Hezbollah rocket killed 12 children who were playing football last year.
“I met with the fathers of some of those children. They told me their one desire: that their story would be told," he said.
“This trip has been sobering, painful and educational. It has reminded me that behind every headline and every protest chant are real people - families, farmers, builders, children - whose lives have been shattered by terrorism and war.
“I know it is the sincere hope of all in the delegation that this visit will result in relationships that we hope can be of real material benefit to the people of Israel and of Northern Ireland.”