The Dutch cabinet and parliament will today discuss whether the Netherlands should impose an embargo on Israeli goods produced in illegal settlements on Palestinian land.

Caretaker foreign affairs minister Casper Veldkamp told media on Thursday that he wanted to take extra measures, although a five-hour parliamentary debate made clear that the caretaker government is divided.

In the debate on Thursday, in which opposition parties threatened a motion of no confidence, Veldkamp said “additional measures” were necessary against Israel in protest at the situation in Gaza.

He formally briefed MPs that in response to “Israeli attacks on Gaza City and the decision to build settlements in the so-called E1 area”, the government would go beyond calling on Israel to change course, saying “extra measures” were “necessary”.

At the end of July, Slovenian prime minister Robert Golob announced a full arms embargo on Israel. At the same time, the Netherlands barred two far-right Israeli ministers from entering the country and the European Union proposed suspending Israel from a lucrative technology investment programme.

Veldkamp led calls in May for a formal EU review of whether Israel had breached an association agreement with the Union by blocking humanitarian aid to Gaza. In his letter to parliament this week, he wrote that the worsening situation in Gaza was “seriously concerning” and settlement plans “unacceptable”.

“Further intensification of the battle increases the suffering of people in Gaza, does not contribute to the return of hostages and does not lead to a sustainable peace,” he wrote.

However, in what was supposed to be the formal conclusion to a previous Gaza debate on Thursday evening, MPs were fractious and divided. Some parties wanted to stop buying arms from Israel – others to embargo goods produced in Israeli settlements.

The Dutch cabinet will discuss the proposals this afternoon and the parliamentary debate will continue at 4pm.