Minister Veldkamp will visit Israel and Palestinian territories on Sunday

Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp will travel to Israel and the Palestinian territories on Sunday and will last until Monday, his ministry announced. This is the first time that a delegation from the Schoof Cabinet will travel there.

Veldkamp will hold talks with his Israeli counterpart, Israel Katz, and the Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority, Mohammad Mustafa. According to a spokesperson for the Foreign Office, this is an "introductory visit," even though Veldkamp has already met both of them. "It is customary for a new minister to pay a short visit to important countries."

The visit will focus on the war in Gaza. Veldkamp will lobby both Israeli and Palestinian representatives for de-escalation and a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, writes the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The minister will also speak with organizations that are active in Gaza and with family members of people who have been taken hostage by Hamas.

Mustafa has been Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority since March. He has little to say about the war in Gaza: the Palestinian Authority looks after the West Bank, which is occupied by Israel, insofar as it is not under Israeli control. Hamas has the political say in Gaza, at least until the militant movement's attack on October 7, 2023, and Israel's subsequent invasion.

The previous Cabinet made several visits to Israel and the Palestinian territories after October 7. This Cabinet spoke out in favor of de-escalation, as it is doing now. Veldkamp's spokesman cannot yet say whether the Foreign Minister will set a different course than his predecessor Hanke Bruins Slot.