Libyan Foreign Minister Najla Mangoush was suspended late Sunday night amid outrage over her meeting last week with her Israeli counterpart Eli Cohen.

Libyan Prime Minister Abdul Hamid al-Dbeibeh announced the formation of a committee to probe Mangoush, while Tripoli issued a statement denying the meeting was held in an official capacity.

“[Libya] categorically denies the exploitation by the Hebrew and international press and their attempt to confer upon the incident the character of meetings,” said the statement, which stressed Tripoli’s “complete and absolute rejection of normalization with the Zionist entity” and affirmed its “full commitment to the issues of the Arab and Islamic nations, foremost of which is the Palestinian cause.”

The development comes hours after Jerusalem revealed that Cohen and Mangoush had met in Rome to discuss the possibility of normalizing ties.

During the first-ever meeting between representatives of the two countries, Cohen offered humanitarian help to the conflict-wrecked North African nation and discussed efforts to preserve the heritage of Libyan Jewry.

Israeli officials established contact with Libya’s unity government several months ago.

“The historic meeting with the Libyan foreign minister, Najla Mangoush, is the first step in the relationship between Israel and Libya,” Cohen said in a statement, explaining that “given Libya’s size and strategic location, relations are of great importance and have huge potential for the State of Israel.

Torn by a bloody civil war since a NATO-supported rebellion removed dictator Muammar Gaddafi from power in 2011, Libya has been divided between rival governments for more than a decade.

Mangoush represents the U.N.-backed unity government in Tripoli, which also enjoys support from large swaths of the international community.