It is Friday morning, November 10. In Gaza, thousands of Palestinians are once again fleeing south due to the ongoing Israeli airstrikes in the north. The Red Cross calls the situation in hospitals in North Gaza “unbearable”. Aid organizations warn that water, food and medicine for civilians are running out throughout the Gaza Strip due to the ongoing Israeli blockade.
That morning, a select group of outgoing ministers meets at the Ministry of General Affairs in The Hague to discuss the war. During the scheduled ministerial consultation, with Prime Minister Mark Rutte (VVD), Minister of Foreign Affairs Hanke Bruins Slot (CDA) and Minister of Defense Kajsa Ollongren (D66), among others, the question is whether the Netherlands should speak out more clearly about possible violations of Israel’s humanitarian law of war – in particular the denial of basic necessities such as fuel, food and water to the people of Gaza.
Anyone who knows the Dutch international efforts in this area will not expect a difficult decision. In 2018, the Netherlands was behind a UN Security Council resolution that strongly condemns food deprivation as a war strategy. “A groundbreaking resolution on the relationship between conflict and hunger,” then Minister of Foreign Affairs Sigrid Kaag (D66) proudly wrote to the House of Representatives. When it comes to hunger as a weapon of war, the Netherlands wants to “denounce violations of international law in this area” and “addresses parties regarding the ban on starving the civilian population,” Kaag writes. For example, the Netherlands has been “successful” in UN resolutions on the wars in Yemen and Syria, in which starvation is explicitly mentioned as a violation of the laws of war.
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Such violations also take place in Gaza, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ leading international law expert has concluded. As early as October 16, the department’s international law advisor, René Lefeber, sent an analysis of the “international law aspects” of the war to Minister Bruins Slot. The minister did not ask for this – the analysis is an initiative of Lefeber. The piece cracks harsh words about Hamas, which is “unquestionably” guilty of war crimes with “deliberate killings” and “indistinguishable rocket attacks”.
Large-scale air raids
But Israel can also probably be blamed, Lefeber writes. “The large-scale Israeli air raids on Gaza, with great loss among the civilian population and much damage to civilian objects, also raise concerns about compliance with humanitarian law.” Whether the bombings constitute a violation is difficult to assess “without precise data and circumstances of an attack”: “restraint” is therefore required.
Lefeber can be brief in his note about closing the Gaza Strip. “The declared general blockade of Gaza by Israel (…) clearly goes against Israeli obligations based on humanitarian law. This may also constitute a war crime (deliberate starvation of the civilian population).”
Officials at the Legal Affairs Department (DJZ) have long been considering a separate ‘hunger note’ on the question of whether the Netherlands should condemn the Israeli blockade on the basis of the 2018 UN resolution. But that piece, according to officials at the department, is being held back by the official leadership, which first wants to ‘find out’ whether Minister Bruins Slot has a ‘need’ for such advice. “Why do we first sound out before we advise? That is too crazy for words,” an official wrote in an internal message.
Allies
Bruins Slot first wants to consult with her fellow ministers. Israel is not Yemen or Syria, but an important ally and strategic security partner of the Netherlands – and especially of the US. The United States, the United Kingdom and Germany still support Israel unconditionally in this war. The Netherlands would be seriously out of step by issuing an open condemnation. Moreover, the government still does not have sufficient information about what exactly is happening ‘on the ground’ in Gaza.
Prime Minister Rutte continues to do what he did in the weeks before: expressing Dutch “concern” about the Israeli actions and calling for the launch of humanitarian aid.
The Netherlands has now decided to use the patrol ship Zr. Ms. Holland to the eastern Mediterranean, and stations a Hercules transport plane in Cyprus – for the evacuation of Dutch people from Israel if necessary, but also for the delivery of relief supplies if Israel gives permission. In his meetings with Benjamin Netanyahu, Rutte has raised possible violations of the laws of war – much to the irritation of the Israeli prime minister. Israel must make it clear that the military operation against Hamas remains “proportionate”, Rutte has said. The two prime ministers have known each other for years, but are not friends. “It was tough love“, says an insider about the conversations.
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Double standard
That is the political game behind the scenes. In public, the cabinet is careful not to attack Israel. Some officials at the Foreign Office find this difficult to digest. In a memo sent last week from the fifteen posts in Africa and the Middle East, diplomats warn of the consequences of the Dutch attitude in the Arab world: “As the war continues, the West’s reluctance to credibly address Israel has the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza has increasing (potential) consequences for our position in the region.” The title of the memo: “The strongest standard is not double.” The Netherlands is very vocal about Russian war crimes, but remains silent when Israel is involved. Many diplomats are confronted about this abroad.
A group of critical civil servants has been active in the department in The Hague for some time. On October 20, almost two weeks after the start of the war, they wrote in a letter to Bruins Slot and Minister Liesje Schreinemacher (Foreign Trade, VVD) that the Netherlands was acting “selectively” and “inconsistently” by not issuing a clear condemnation of Israel. speak. The more than 350 ministry officials who signed the letter want the Netherlands to “emphatically focus on a ceasefire and de-escalation.”
Ministers Bruins Slot and Schreinemacher will send a response on October 23. The ministers show understanding for the “deeply felt concerns” of the civil servants, but they leave no doubt about it: it is not the civil servants, but the cabinet that determines the political line. “These decisions may differ from someone’s personal beliefs. That can be personally difficult, but it is an inseparable aspect of being a civil servant and of administrative craftsmanship.”
The admonishing message does not go down well with the critical civil servants: their concerns are dismissed as emotions, while based on their craftsmanship they see professional and substantive objections to Dutch policy. In a second letter to the ministers, they conclude that there is “insufficient room at the Foreign Office to provide open, honest, complete and effective advice.”
Culture of fear
The leadership at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is also not happy, according to officials NRC spoke on the basis of anonymity because they fear negative consequences. According to an official, a witch hunt has been launched in recent weeks for employees who do not agree with the government’s line: “Everyone is afraid of reprisals.” One official speaks of a “culture of fear” and “improper management”. The management has made it clear that dissident opinions will not be tolerated, as a third employee says: “If you don’t agree with the political line, they say, then you should go work for an NGO.”
The ministry is starting an internal investigation into the leaks to NRC, and reports that it will also report it to the police on Wednesday. In an internal message to employees, Secretary General Paul Huijts writes that the ministry takes the release of confidential documents “very seriously”. “The deliberate leaking of non-public information affects the functioning of our organization to the soul and undermines the mutual trust of colleagues.” Huijts even accuses his own employees of “deliberately putting others in unsafe situations.”
In the meantime, critical civil servants do not feel heard. Even after more than five weeks of war and more than 11,000 Palestinian deaths, the Netherlands is not calling for a ceasefire. In a debate with the House of Representatives on October 24, Rutte said that if the Netherlands were to do so, “you are actually saying that Israel cannot now further tackle the threat of Hamas.” In other words: if The Hague calls for a ceasefire, the Netherlands denies Israel the right to self-defense. For this reason, the Netherlands abstained from voting at the United Nations on October 27 on a resolution on a pause in fighting. Other European countries, including France, support the call for a ceasefire.
Rutte’s statement is not consistent with official advice drawn up by the Directorate of Legal Affairs (DJZ) of Foreign Affairs. The right to self-defense always leaves open the option of putting down your arms, according to DJZ. These recommendations have not yet led to a different position within the cabinet.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs says in a response to a series of questions from NRC that it does not respond “to internal documents that are made in the department or at the posts as part of policy making.”
In the meantime, many BZ employees are having sleepless nights because of the situation in Gaza. Several civil servants have reported sick.