ISTANBUL

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar summoned the Dutch ambassador on Tuesday over her country’s travel ban on two far-right Israeli government ministers, local media said.

On Monday, the Netherlands declared Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir persona non grata over their repeated calls for ethnic cleansing in the Gaza Strip.

Israel’s public broadcaster KAN said Saar summoned Dutch Ambassador Mireille Schuurman for a meeting at 5 p.m. local time (1400 GMT) to reprimand her over her country’s decision.

Ben-Gvir has repeatedly demanded a “full siege” on Gaza and starving civilians there. Smotrich, meanwhile, has called for reoccupying Gaza and reducing its Palestinian population, saying Israel should "stop being afraid of the word occupation.” Their rhetoric has been widely condemned as incitement to violence and genocide.

Israel has imposed a blockade on Gaza for 18 years and, since March 2, has shut down all crossings, blocking humanitarian aid and creating famine-like conditions among the territory’s 2.4 million population.

According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, at least 147 people have died of starvation since October 2023, including 88 children.

Israel has killed more than 60,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children, in a brutal assault on the Gaza Strip since October 2023.

On Monday, Israeli rights groups B’Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights-Israel (PHRI) accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza, citing the systematic destruction of Palestinian society and the deliberate dismantling of the territory’s healthcare system.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.