The Netherlands does not have to stop exporting F-35 parts to Israel. Four human rights organizations requested this from the Hague judge two weeks ago, but the court rejected the request.
The Netherlands sends spare parts for the F-35 from a logistics center in Woensdrecht to all allies who use the ultra-modern aircraft, including Israel. According to Oxfam Novib, Amnesty International, peace organization Pax and The Rights Forum, this export is a crucial link that makes it possible to ‘drop real bombs on real houses and on real families’, as Oxfam’s director put it during the lawsuit.
According to the judge, the cabinet has sufficiently weighed the interests at stake to decide to continue supplying.
Israel has been bombing the Gaza Strip intensively since the Hamas attack on October 7. More than 15,000 Palestinians have been killed in the attacks and fighting, according to the health ministry in Gaza. According to human rights organizations, the laws of war are being violated in Gaza. In their view, the supply of parts for the fighter planes ensures that the Netherlands is partly responsible for the punishment of the Gazan civilian population.
According to the government, it is difficult to determine whether Israel is violating the laws of war in response to Hamas’s terrorist act. Israel has the right to defend itself. Moreover, the deployment of this most modern fighter aircraft is important for stability in the region. The device has a deterrent effect.
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