Israel sets seven-day deadline for Dutch officials in West Bank
Foreign Minister Gideon Saar says Dutch officials must surrender their Israeli-issued papers after the Netherlands began enforcing a ban on goods from Israeli settlements.
Israel plans to revoke the diplomatic accreditation of Dutch officials based in the occupied West Bank, Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said on Sunday. He gave them seven days to surrender their Israeli-issued diplomatic papers.
Saar said their diplomatic privileges and immunities would expire after that period. The announcement does not confirm that the accreditation has already been revoked, and the officials were not identified.
He linked the move to the Netherlands’ enforcement of a ban on goods from Israeli settlements in the Golan Heights, the West Bank and east Jerusalem. Dutch authorities said the ban began on 22 September and covers personal baggage as well as commercial shipments.
The Netherlands’ measure followed coordinated action by 12 Western countries, including Britain and France, to sanction goods from Israeli settlements.
Israel has occupied the territories since 1967, according to the report. Settlements there are illegal under international law. About 500,000 Israeli settlers live in the West Bank, excluding east Jerusalem, alongside three million Palestinians.
