Caretaker foreign affairs minister Casper Veldkamp resigned on Friday, followed by his fellow ministers from the New Sociaal Contract party, in an escalating row within the Dutch coalition over its policy on Israel.

Veldkamp said his attempts to take more measures against Israel were being blocked by the other two parties in the cabinet.

Prime minister Dick Schoof said he would take advice before deciding how to proceed with a rump administration whose constituent parties have just 31 of the 150 seats in parliament.

Schoof has cancelled a scheduled visit to Ukraine next week to deal with the unfolding domestic crisis and decide how the vacant ministerial posts should be filled.

“We have to respect these decisions, but we deeply regret them,” he said. “Especially in light of the responsibility that the cabinet has in this caretaker period.”

He said ministers had been unable to agree on how to respond to the situation in Gaza despite “intense” efforts.

“We all see the enormous suffering and we all want the humanitarian situation to improve. However, this point of view has not led to a collective decision by the three parties.”

NSC follows PVV

Geert Wilders pulled the far-right PVV out at the start of July after demanding a guarantee from the other partners that they would bring in harsher migration rules.

Veldkamp told media on Thursday that he wanted to put pressure on Israel following its invasion of Gaza City and the publication of plans to build new settlements on the West Bank.

But during a five-hour parliamentary debate it became clear that the caretaker government was divided and Veldkamp had not coordinated his wishes with the rest of the cabinet.

BBB and VVD did not wish to go beyond the measures already in place and accused the NSC ministers of walking out of talks to resolve the impasse.

The other four NSC ministers – social affairs minister Eddy van Hijum, home affairs minister Judith Uitermark, education minister Eppo Bruins and health minister Daniëlle Jansen – and four junior ministers quit shortly after Veldkamp made his statement.

Entry bans

Until now, Dutch unilateral action is limited to the largely symbolic gesture of imposing entry bans on far-right Israeli ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich.

In a statement, Veldkamp said the cabinet “had already taken considerable steps”. “I felt resistance in the cabinet against more measures as a result of what is happening in Gaza City and the occupied West Bank at the moment,” he said.

He added that he felt the other ministers would not support him. “That is not something that will change in the coming months and years, and if my room for manoeuvre is so limited in this respect, I shall go home and write my letter of resignation,” he said.

“Flabbergasted”

VVD MP Eric van der Burg said he had been “flabbergasted” by the minister’s decision, the NRC quoted him as saying, while BBB MP Henk Vermeer said the decision was “a personal one”. The left-wing opposition parties said they are mainly disappointed Veldkamp failed to rally support for the measures.

NSC party leader Van Hijum said Veldkamp faced a lack of willingness to give him space and that his credibility and that of the party was on the line.

“We are done”, Van Hijum said. “The actions of the Israeli government are contrary to international agreements. We need to draw a line.”