Israel Gives Dutch Diplomats 7 Days to Hand Over Ramallah Papers
Sa'ar said the Dutch Embassy in Israel was notified of the move Sunday evening. Once the deadline passes, the diplomatic privileges and immunities Israel extends to the envoys will lapse, he wrote on US social media platform X.
"If the Netherlands wishes to continue representing its interests with the Palestinians, it may do so from Palestinian Authority territory," Sa’ar said.
Sa'ar tied the step directly to a Dutch order that took effect Sept. 22, which bans the import, purchase and sale of goods from Israeli settlements in the West Bank. The Dutch government says the measure covers goods from settlements across the occupied Palestinian territories and also prohibits services that facilitate such trade.
The foreign minister added that Israel expelled a Dutch delegation last month from an international support center for Gaza in Kiryat Gat, following earlier Dutch government measures against Israel.
Israeli media have previously reported that some settlement-made products were labeled as originating inside Israel's pre-1967 borders to sidestep comparable European bans.
Dutch authorities had not immediately commented on Israel's decision.
The Dutch order followed a Sept. 14 announcement by 12 countries, France, Britain, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Sweden, that they plan to impose trade restrictions on Israeli settlements. The group also urged Israel to immediately halt settlement expansion and violence by occupiers.
Israel's current government says it has approved 104 new settlements since taking office in late 2022, while 160 agricultural settlement outposts have been set up in the West Bank.
The UN has repeatedly affirmed that Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories violate international law, warning that they undermine prospects for a two-state solution.
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