Israel to revoke diplomatic status of Dutch officials in West Bank

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Israel’s Foreign Minister, Gideon Saar, said on Sunday that the diplomatic accreditation of Dutch officials based in the occupied West Bank would be revoked after the Netherlands began enforcing sanctions on goods from Israeli settlements.

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In a post on his official X handle, Saar stated that the diplomats have seven days to hand over Israeli-issued diplomatic papers.

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“After this period, the diplomatic privileges and immunities granted to them by the State of Israel will expire,” he added.

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Saar said the move came after the Dutch government started enforcing a ban on goods imported from Israeli settlements in the Golan Heights, the West Bank and east Jerusalem.

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Israel conquered the territories during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war and has occupied them ever since. Settlements built there are illegal under international law.

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Dutch authorities announced this month that they would begin enforcing a ban on settlement goods from September 22 and that it applied to personal baggage as well as commercial shipments.

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In recent days, Dutch and Israeli media reported that passengers arriving from Israel at Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport had their luggage searched for banned goods.

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The US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, a strong supporter of settlers, posted on X that “There were some people from the Netherlands in our church this morning who are flying back tomorrow and have to check their souvenirs to make sure they aren’t from Judea/Samaria-possible 6 yr prison term.”

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Judea and Samaria is the biblical name for the West Bank that is still used by the Israeli government.

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The Dutch ban followed coordinated action by 12 Western countries, including Britain and France, to sanction goods from Israeli settlements at the start of the month.

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Excluding east Jerusalem, around 500,000 Israeli settlers live in the West Bank, which is home to three million Palestinians.

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AFP

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