(CNN) The first two Muslim women in Congress sharply criticized President Donald Trump and Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after a trip to visit Israel and the Palestinian territories was canceled once the two lawmakers were denied entry for supporting a boycott of Israel.

At a news conference in Minnesota on Monday, Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar -- alongside Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan -- made an emotional plea for her congressional colleagues to also visit the region as part of their role of congressional oversight for $3 billion in foreign aid

"I would encourage my colleagues to visit, meet with the people we were going to meet with, see the things we were going to see, hear the stories we were going to hear," said Omar, who represents a district in Minnesota. "We cannot let Trump and Netanyahu succeed in hiding the cruel reality of the occupation from us. So I call on all of you to go. The occupation is real, barring members of Congress from seeing it does not make it go away. We must end it together."

Tlaib, who is the first Palestinian-American woman to serve in Congress, was later granted entry to visit the Palestinian territories to visit her grandmother who lives in the West Bank. Tlaib declined to visit citing the conditions placed on her entry by the Israeli government and the trip was canceled.

On Monday, Tlaib spoke about visits she took to Palestine as a young girl to visit her grandmother. When she spoke about her mother and herself having to go through "dehumanizing checkpoints," Tlaib grew visibly emotional.

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