The Netherlands has joined a growing number of countries pressuring organisers of the Eurovision Song Contest to exclude Israel from the competition amid the ongoing conflict in the Gaza Strip.
Dutch broadcaster AVROTROS, one of the public broadcasters that collectively fund and broadcast the event, stated it would not participate in next year's contest in Vienna if Israel is included, citing "the ongoing and severe human suffering in Gaza." The broadcaster also expressed "deep concern about the serious erosion of press freedom: the deliberate exclusion of independent international reporting and the many casualties among journalists."
