Netherlands summons Israeli envoy over ‘worrying developments’ in Gaza
Geert Wilders, the leader of the Party for Freedom, a senior coalition partner, slammed Veldkamp's move as "clumsy and premature."
Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp summoned the Israeli ambassador to The Hague for a meeting on Wednesday to provide clarification regarding Israel’s military operation in the Gaza Strip.
“At my request, the Israeli ambassador was summoned this morning to provide clarification on the worrying developments in the Gaza Strip, including the attack on the aid convoy,” stated Veldkamp, referencing a March 23 incident in which several aid workers were reportedly killed alongside six Hamas terrorists in a convoy of ambulances.
Veldkamp added, “The Netherlands stands for the safety of Israel, the return of all hostages and the alleviation of the serious humanitarian needs. It is my conviction that it is precisely for this effort that it is important to also convey concerns.”
The Israeli Embassy in the Netherlands confirmed in a statement that Ambassador Modi Ephraim held a meeting with the director of the Middle East and North Africa at the Foreign Ministry in The Hague.
Ephraim “emphasized the expectation that the Netherlands, as a friend of Israel, will support our efforts to dismantle the Hamas threat in Gaza — a terrorist organisation that uses civilians as human shields,” according to the statement.
“The current situation in Gaza was discussed, and Ambassador Ephraim stressed that there is no shortage of humanitarian aid — over 25,000 aid trucks have entered the Gaza Strip during the 42 days of the ceasefire. Hamas has used this aid to rebuild its war machine,” said the embassy.
Questions regarding the March 23 incident are being probed “with the utmost seriousness and are under in-depth examination” by the IDF General Staff’s independent investigation mechanism, it added.
Geert Wilders, the leader of the Party for Freedom, the country’s largest political movement and a senior coalition partner, slammed Veldkamp’s move as “clumsy and premature” in an interview with Dutch media.
“He has no clue what happened in reality,” Wilders said of his coalition partner’s response to the March incident. “I believe it’s being probed.”
On Monday, Veldkamp and Trade Minister Reinette Klever, who serves in the government on behalf of Wilders’s Party for Freedom, announced stricter licensing procedures for weapons exports to the Jewish state.
Veldkamp and Klever said two types of export permits were “amended to exclude Israel as a country of final destination. The government is taking this step to be able to test all transactions of strategic goods to Israel before export and transit against the European frameworks for export and transit of military goods and dual-use goods.”
“This is desirable given the security situation in Israel, the Palestinian Territories and the wider region,” they wrote in a letter to parliament.
The decision means that Dutch arms exporters who were able to ship items under a general permit may need to ask the government for individual export permits for some items to Jerusalem.
Wilders reacted to the news by posting on
social media a picture of his meeting with Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel. Wilders wrote the single word “Israel,”
followed by a heart emoji.
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