Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp resigned on 22 August after fellow members of the caretaker cabinet refused to back his call for further, EU-aligned sanctions on Israel over its military campaign in Gaza and settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank. Veldkamp told reporters he could no longer “take meaningful additional measures” because his proposals met resistance in several cabinet meetings. He will formally tender his resignation to King Willem-Alexander, leaving the foreign-policy brief to an interim successor while the caretaker administration remains in place. The Hague had already barred Israeli far-right ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich from entering the Netherlands in July and this week joined 21 other countries in denouncing Israel’s E1 settlement project as a breach of international law. The resignation adds to uncertainty in a government that has operated in caretaker mode since its collapse on 3 June, ahead of elections expected in October.