Israel strips Dutch diplomats of status in West Bank

The Israeli government said on Sunday that it was revoking the diplomatic status of Dutch diplomats representing The Netherlands at the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah, the administrative capital of the Palestinian Territories.

Israeli ​Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said the move was a response to Dutch sanctions targeting illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.

"Israel will not ignore measures intended to harm it," Saar wrote on social media.

He ordered Dutch diplomats operating in Ramallah to ​return their Israeli-issued diplomatic documentation within seven days.

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

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Dutch authorities announced earlier this month that they would begin enforcing a ban on settlement goods.

The ban, which applies to personal baggage as well as commercial shipments, came into force on September 22 and, in recent days, Dutch and Israeli media have reported that passengers arriving at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport from Israel had their luggage searched for banned goods.

Earlier in September, Israel also ordered the closure of ⁠the British Consulate ⁠in East Jerusalem, the United Kingdom's representative to the Palestinian Authority, after London announced similar sanctions banning the import of goods from illegal settlements.

"Any country that acts in a hostile and unilateral manner against Israel will lose influence and relevance in the region," said Saar.

France and Canada have also announced a ban on goods from settlements, but Israel has not yet taken any action against ​those two countries.

In August, Israel also banned Dutch diplomats from a Israeli-based, US-led coordination center for Gaza over what the foreign minister described as "anti-Israel measures."

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