Norway announced on Saturday that it is closing its office in the West Bank town of Al-Ram following Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz’s decision to revoke the diplomatic status of eight of its employees who work with the Palestinian Authority.

“This decision was made due to Norway’s recognition of a Palestinian-Hamas state after the October 7 massacre and its support for issuing arrest warrants against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and senior Israeli officials,” Katz stated on X (formerly Twitter).

In reaction to Oslo’s acceptance of a Palestinian state in May, Israel’s Foreign Ministry declared earlier in August that it would be removing the diplomatic status of eight Norwegian diplomats who interacted with the Palestinian Authority.

The Norwegian Foreign Minister, Espen Barth Eide, claimed on Friday that Oslo viewed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government’s move as “extreme and unreasonable.”

 

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