Dutch Court Rejects Palestinian NGO Pro Lawsuit Stops Arms Exports To Israel

The impact of the Israeli attack on Gaza/DOK UNRWA

JAKARTA - The Dutch court on Friday rejected a lawsuit by 10 pro-Palestinian NGOs to stop the Dutch from exporting weapons to Israel.

The Hague Court stressed that the state has leniency in its policies and the court must not rush to take action.

"The interim trial decided that there was no reason to impose a total ban on the export of military goods and dual use goods to the state," he said.

Plaintiffs, citing the large number of civilian casualties in Israel's war in the Gaza Strip, argue the Dutch state as the signator of the 1948 Genocide Convention, has an obligation to take all reasonable measures to prevent genocide.

The NGOs cited an order from the International Court in January to Israel to prevent genocide in Gaza.

Israel says allegations of genocide in military operations in Gaza are baseless. Israel claims it only hunts down Hamas and other armed groups that threaten its existence and hide among civilians, something the group denies.

The judges at the district court of The Hague sided with the Dutch government, which stated that it continues to assess the risk of weapons and multipurpose goods exported to Israel being used in a way that could lead to violations of international law.

In a separate case ruling in February, a Dutch court ordered the government to block all exports of F-35 fighter jet parts to Israel due to fears the parts were used to violate international law during the war in Gaza.

The government has filed an appeal against the decision.