Overview

• The Netherlands has barred entry of Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and registered them as undesirable in the Schengen Information System.
• Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp accused the two of repeatedly inciting settler violence, promoting illegal settlement expansion and calling for ethnic cleansing in Gaza.
• Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Saar summoned the Dutch ambassador in protest of the entry bans.
• Both Ben-Gvir and Smotrich are key partners in Prime Minister Netanyahu’s coalition, raising the diplomatic stakes of the sanctions.
• The Dutch government is evaluating land-based humanitarian corridors to Gaza to reduce the risks and costs of aerial aid drops.