Dutch Customs Search El Al Passengers for Settlement Goods
The broadcaster described the checks on travelers from Tel Aviv as unusual. Customs officers were looking for goods made in settlements in the occupied West Bank or the Golan Heights, it said.
The report did not say whether any goods were found or whether any passengers faced action.
The broadcaster tied the searches to a Dutch ban on the import, purchase and sale of settlement goods that took effect last week. The Dutch government's published explanation says the measure covers goods from settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories and also bars services that facilitate such trade.
The broadcaster also claimed that bringing settlement products into the Netherlands could carry a prison sentence of up to six years.
Dutch authorities had not immediately commented on the Channel 12 report.
Israel Sets Deadline for Dutch Diplomats in Ramallah
Separately, Israel has given Dutch diplomats working in Ramallah seven days to hand back their Israeli-issued diplomatic documents, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar said Sunday, in response to the trade ban.
Sa'ar said the Dutch Embassy in Israel was informed of the decision Sunday evening. When the deadline passes, the diplomatic privileges and immunities Israel extends to the envoys will expire, he wrote on US social media company X.
The Dutch measure followed a Sept. 14 announcement by 12 countries, France, Britain, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Sweden, that they plan to impose trade restrictions on Israeli settlements. The group also urged Israel to immediately halt settlement expansion and violence by occupiers.
Israel's current government says it has approved 104 new settlements since taking office in late 2022, while 160 agricultural settlement outposts have been established in the West Bank.
The UN has repeatedly affirmed that Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories are illegal under international law, warning that they undermine prospects for a two-state solution.
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