Netherlands accused of war crimes complicity for Israeli military supplies
Al JazeeraDec 04, 2023
Rights Groups Seek to Block Netherlands From Sending Fighter Jet Parts to Israel
Photo: Nick Ut/Getty Images
The Facts
Lawyers for three human right organizations, namely Oxfam Novib, Amnesty International and The Rights Forum, argued in the Hague District Court on Monday that the Dutch government must stop sending F-35 fighter jet parts to Israel.
Their suit claims that the Netherlands could become complicit in alleged war crimes in the Gaza Strip by shipping weapons parts to Israel, among several other partners, via existing export agreements.
The Spin
Establishment-critical narrative
It's clear that Israel has violated international humanitarian law by indiscriminately killing thousands civilians in Gaza, so rights groups are justified in asking western countries to stop supporting war crimes. The Netherlands has outrageously been complicit in this brutal offensive that goes far beyond targeting Hamas fighters, even failing to call for a ceasefire despite several of its European partners doing so.
Pro-establishment narrative
While the entire situation in Gaza is an utter tragedy, it is not up to Dutch judges and lawmakers to determine whether or not Israel has violated international laws as it defends itself from Hamas terrorists. Outside of sensationalist reporting, there is no evidence of Israeli war crimes in Gaza, and the Netherlands is doing nothing wrong by sending military equipment under the specifications of pre-arranged deals.
Nerd narrative
There's a 16% chance that the International Criminal Court will bring charges against a member of the Israeli Government or Israeli Defense Force before 2027, according to the Metaculus prediction community.