JERUSALEM, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- Israel said on Sunday that it would revoke the diplomatic privileges and immunities of Dutch diplomats based in Ramallah, in retaliation for a Dutch ban on products from Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar said on the social media platform X that the diplomats had seven days to return their Israeli-issued diplomatic documents.
"After this period, the diplomatic privileges and immunities granted to them by the State of Israel will expire," Sa'ar said.
The Israeli foreign ministry said in a separate statement that the move followed the entry into force last week of a Dutch order banning the import and sale of products from Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, as well as the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. The Netherlands says Israeli settlements violate international law.
The ministry said Israel last month also removed the Dutch delegation from a U.S.-led coordination center for Gaza in Kiryat Gat, southern Israel.
The move comes amid widening tensions between Israel and European governments over its conduct in Gaza and the West Bank.
Earlier this month, Sa'ar announced a series of retaliatory measures against Britain over its latest moves targeting Israeli settlements in the West Bank, including closing the British Consulate in Jerusalem and barring 12 British officials from entering Israel. In April, Israel announced the removal of Spanish representatives from the coordination center for Gaza, citing Spain's repeated "stand against Israel."
More than half a million Israeli settlers live in the West Bank, which Israel occupied in 1967, alongside about 3.4 million Palestinians, according to Palestinian and Israeli sources. Recent years have seen a sharp rise in violence against Palestinians, with near-daily attacks by settlers and Israeli forces, often resulting in fatalities.
Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank are considered illegal under international law. ■
