Pro-Palestinian NGOs seek court order to stop Dutch arms exports to Israel

Pro-Palestinian NGOs asked a Dutch court on Friday to stop the Netherlands exporting weapons to Israel and trading with Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territories, citing high civilian casualties in Israel's war in the Gaza Strip.

According to the plaintiffs, the Dutch state, as a signatory to the 1948 Genocide Convention, has a duty to take all reasonable measures at its disposal to prevent genocide.

Lawyer Wout Albers, acting for groups including Palestinian rights organisations Al Haq and Al Mezan and pro-Palestinian Jewish organisation Een Ander Joods Geluid, said the Netherlands had failed to take the measures needed by continuing its exports of weapons parts and military cooperation.

"This has to stop immediately," he said.

The case, heard by the district court in The Hague, cites a January order to Israel by the International Court of Justice to prevent acts of genocide in Gaza. The plaintiffs cited "extreme numbers of civilian victims killed and wounded and the unprecedented destruction" to argue genocide is taking place.

They also cited arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court on Thursday for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defence chief for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity including persecution, murder and starvation as a weapon of war in Gaza.

Israel says accusations of genocide in its Gaza campaign are baseless and that it is solely hunting down Hamas and other armed groups who threaten its existence and hide among civilians, something the groups deny. Israel said Thursday's arrest warrants were shameful and absurd.

Lawyers for the Dutch state asked judges to dismiss the demands of the NGOs, arguing that it is not up to a judge to dictate foreign policy towards Israel.

"The Dutch state is not contributing to attacks by Israel on the Gaza strip (...) or maintaining settlements" in occupied Palestinian territories, lawyer for the state Reimer Veldhuis told the court.

In February, a Dutch court ordered the government to block all exports of F-35 fighter jet parts to Israel over concerns they were being used to violate international law during the war in Gaza. The government has appealed that ruling.

Judges have given no indication of how long the Palestinian NGOs case will take to hear. Such cases normally take around two weeks.

The Netherlands said on Thursday after the arrest warrants were issued that a visit to Israel by Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp had been postponed.