Israel withdraws the VIP card from the Palestinian Foreign Minister
Israel on Sunday revoked a card for Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki facilitating his movements in the West Bank, amid retaliatory measures against a Palestinian move to ask the International Court of Justice for an opinion on the decades-old conflict.
The Foreign Minister's office said that the Israeli border guards confiscated the VIP card of al-Maliki when he crossed into the West Bank from Jordan.
A spokesman for the Israeli Ministry of Defense confirmed what happened and described it as part of the implementation of a government decision issued on Friday.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in televised cabinet statements that the decision included "sanctions against prominent Palestinian figures" and other measures.
Israel's Defense Ministry said on Saturday that the VIP cards of three other senior Palestinian officials had been revoked in response to their visit to the prisoner, who was released after serving 40 years in prison for killing an Israeli soldier.
The cards, issued under interim agreements with Israel dating back to the 1990s, facilitate movement across the Israeli-controlled West Bank border with Jordan and from Palestinian-administered territory into Israel.
"The foreign minister will continue his work and his diplomatic movement, with or without this card," Ahmed al-Deek, Musaed al-Maliki, told Reuters.
Israel confiscated Al-Maliki's VIP card in 2021 after his return from a meeting of the International Criminal Court.
It was not immediately clear when he retrieved the card or why it was recovered.
Based on an appeal made by the Palestinians, the UN General Assembly asked the International Court of Justice on December 30 to give an opinion on the legal consequences of Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories.
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