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| Image Source: Al-Jazeera |
Human rights organizations say that the Dutch state is complicit in war crimes in Gaza by exporting aircraft parts to Israel.
A Dutch court
is set to try the state for complicity in war crimes for supplying parts for
Israeli bombers in Gaza.
The lawsuit,
which opens Monday against the Netherlands by human rights organizations,
alleges the Dutch state is complicit in alleged war crimes over the recovery of
parts for F-35 fighter jets.
The Dutch
branches of Amnesty International and Oxfam say that by allowing the delivery
of spare parts for Israeli fighter jets during the ongoing war, "the
Netherlands contributes to the widespread and serious violations of human
rights committed by Israel in Gaza."
The court case
will begin at 10am CET (09:00 GMT) and will hear the claimants' case and the
Dutch state lawyers' response. A decision is expected in two weeks.
The Netherlands
is home to a regional warehouse that stores US-owned F-35 parts, which can be
shipped to other F-35 partner nations, such as Israel.
Several weeks
after the deadly attacks by Hamas on October 7, the Dutch government authorized
the shipment of spare parts for Israeli F-35 jets, official documents show.
Last week, the
country's defense minister, Kajsa Ollongren, told Dutch news agency ANP that
she would not comment on the charges ahead of legal proceedings at The Hague
court.
But later, in a
letter to parliament, the Dutch defense ministry said that based on current
information, "it cannot be established that the F-35s are involved in
serious violations of the laws of war".
Israel has
denied committing war crimes in Gaza.
More than
15,000 Palestinians, including women and children, have been killed during the
ongoing war in the Gaza Strip. Israel says Hamas fighters have killed 1,200
Israelis and taken 240 hostages.
Like the rest
of the EU, since the start of the war between Israel and Gaza, the Netherlands
has maintained that Israel has a right to self-defense under humanitarian and
international law.
The Dutch
government has not included calls for a ceasefire that have been heard from
some EU allies such as Belgium and Spain.
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