Israel Revokes Accreditation of Eight Norwegian Diplomats

Ramallah, MINA – The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs canceled on Thursday the travel visas of the Norwegian diplomatic mission operating in the Palestinian territories, Wafa reports.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry sent a letter to the Embassy of Norway in Israel, terminating the mission of its job with the Palestinian Authority, canceling entry visas for employees of the Norwegian representation in Ramallah within 7 days, and refusing to issue any entry visa for any Norwegian official who will work in the Palestinian territories, indicating that this comes in response to the unilateral measures taken by Norway and its positions after October 7.

This step was not the first against Norway, as two days ago Israel stopped transferring the Gaza Strip allocations that it deducts from the clearance funds to Norway, in response to the latter’s recognition of the State of Palestine, and the statements of its Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide, in which he condemned Israel’s policies during the war of termination on Gaza.

Yedioth Ahronoth reported that the Israeli Ministerial Council for Political and Security Affairs (the Cabinet) decided to cancel the Israeli-Norwegian arrangement in response to Norway’s decision to recognize the Palestinian state and the legal viewpoint it submitted to the International Criminal Court.

According to Israeli media, Israeli government is looking for a new country to transfer the funds it deducts from the clearance funds, which are equal to the amounts allocated by the Palestinian government to the Gaza Strip.

Last May, Norway, Spain and Ireland announced their official recognition of the Palestinian state, followed in June by Slovenia and Armenia.

These recognitions angered Israel, whose Foreign Minister, Israel Katz, quickly summoned the ambassadors of Madrid, Dublin and Oslo in response to their countries’ recognition of the State of Palestine, and also summoned the ambassadors of Tel Aviv from these countries.

In retaliation against the Palestinians, the occupation government announced the expansion of colonization and the cancellation of the “Disengagement Law” in a number of colonies evacuated two decades ago in the northern West Bank. (T/RE1)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)