The Norwegian Foreign Ministry said that Israel's cancellation of the diplomatic status of members of its embassy would have consequences, describing the move as an extreme act by the Israeli government, while the Palestinian Authority expressed its rejection of the decision and stressed that it constitutes a violation of international law.

"Today we received a message from the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stating that it will no longer facilitate the work of Norwegian diplomats in the Palestinian territories," the Norwegian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

She stressed that this "extremist Israeli behaviour primarily affects our ability to help the Palestinian people."

For his part, Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide confirmed that his country is currently studying the measures it will take to respond to the actions of Netanyahu's government.

He said that the Israeli decision would have repercussions on his country's relationship with the Israeli government.

Palestinian rejection

This comes as Ahmed Al-Deek, the political advisor to the Palestinian Foreign Minister, expressed his country's rejection of the Israeli cancellation decision on Thursday, stressing that it constitutes a violation of international law.

Al-Deek said in a statement to the media, "We in Palestine reject Israel's decision to cancel the diplomatic status of Norway's representatives to the Palestinian Authority."

"This decision is illegal and unacceptable, and Norway's representation is an integral part of the status quo and must not be changed," he added.

Al-Deek stressed that the occupying state has no right to take such a measure because the representatives are representatives of the internationally recognized State of Palestine.

He pointed out that the Israeli decision is a violation of international law and the laws regulating bilateral relations between countries.

Cancellation decision

Earlier today, Thursday, Israel informed the Oslo embassy in it of the cancellation of the diplomatic status of Norwegian officials working in their country's representative office to the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, in response to its recognition of the State of Palestine.

Israeli media reported that the letter was delivered to the representative of the Norwegian embassy, who was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, while Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz claimed that Norway was pursuing what he called a unilateral policy, and that the decision was part of Israel’s sanctions on Norway for recognizing the State of Palestine, stressing, “We will distance them from the Palestinian issue.”

Katz said that what he called "anti-Israel behavior has a price," claiming that Norway chose to reward what he described as murderers in Hamas instead of "supporting Israel in the fight against the Iranian axis of evil," as he put it.

He explained that Norway also joined the campaign in the lawsuit filed against Israel in the International Criminal Court.

On May 28, Norway, Spain and Ireland announced their official recognition of the Palestinian state, followed on June 4 by Slovenia, bringing the number of countries recognizing it to 148 out of 193 member states of the United Nations General Assembly.