Israel revokes diplomatic status of Dutch diplomats in Ramallah

Israel has revoked the diplomatic status of Dutch diplomats in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, Israeli authorities said on Sunday.

In a statement issued on Sunday evening, Israel’s Foreign Ministry said Foreign Minister Gideon Saar had informed the Dutch embassy that its diplomats in Ramallah must return the diplomatic documents issued to them by Israel within seven days.

At the end of the seven-day period, their “immunities and rights in Israel” would expire, the statement said.

Israel said the measure followed steps taken by the Dutch government against Israel, including a ban on the import and trade of products from Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights.

The Dutch government began implementing a comprehensive ban last week on the import, marketing and sale of settlement products, barring the entry of goods from settlements in the occupied West Bank, East Jerusalem and the occupied Syrian Golan Heights.

According to a statement by Dutch customs authorities and the Foreign Ministry in The Hague, the decision, which took effect on Tuesday, applies to commercial imports by companies as well as luggage carried by individual travellers entering the Netherlands. It also bans Dutch companies operating abroad from brokering or participating in trade with settlements.

The ban covers settlement products carried in travellers’ personal luggage, including items brought into the Netherlands as “souvenirs or gifts”. If customs officials seize such a product from a traveller’s luggage, the public prosecutor’s office will decide whether to bring legal proceedings against them.

Deliberate violations of the ban can carry a prison sentence of up to six years or a fine of up to €103,000.