A European Union delegation visited Gaza on Monday despite an EU boycott on Hamas, which the EU has labeled a terrorist group. Delegation head Kyriacos Triantaphyllides spoke with Hamas representative Ahmed Bahar, head of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), and invited all members of the PLC to visit the EU parliament in Brussels.

Triantaphyllides spoke to Reuters and confirmed that the invitation was extended to members of Hamas as well as others. “We don't care who they are as long as they are members of the Legislative Council,” he said. “We don't ask if they are members of Hamas or members of Fatah.” All members of the PLC were democratically elected, he said.

The delegation was held up on its way to Gaza, first by Egyptian soldiers who refused the group passage, and then by Israeli soldiers who ran thorough security checks, members of the group said. One member slammed Israel in the Arabic daily Maan, saying Israel should open all Gaza crossings “as it is not acceptable for a whole population to be besieged just because it elected its representatives democratically.”

Another member of the delegation told local Arab media that he would return to Europe and demand “an end to the siege on Gaza.”

The PLC legislators have been invited to visit the EU parliament in March of 2009. They will be able to do so only if they get Israeli approval to leave via one of the crossings between Gaza and the Negev or if they convince Egypt to open its border with Gaza. The crossings have been closed since Hamas won a brief round of fighting against Fatah to take control of Gaza in June of 2007, although humanitarian aid and seriously ill Gaza residents are still allowed to pass.