Human rights groups in the Netherlands have taken the Dutch government to court in an attempt to put an end to exports of F-35 fighter jet components to Israel, arguing that the state is violating its own ban on weapons exports when there is a risk of breaches of humanitarian law.
Speaking on Monday at the end of the trial’s first hearing in The Hague, Michiel Servaes, president of Oxfam Novib, the Dutch affiliate of the international charity, said that the case “went beyond the export of fighter jets’ spare parts”.
“We are also asking the judge to make it clear that governments [must] be held accountable for their double standards,” Mr Servaes told media.
“All the big language used on Ukraine and Russia – they are not doing it now. I think it’s important that it’s corrected.”
The trial, set to last two weeks, started as Israel ordered people out of large parts of the main southern city in the Gaza Strip as it pressed its ground campaign deep into the south of the enclave.
More than 15,500 Palestinians have died in Israel’s bombing campaign since October 7, according to local authorities. The military operation, supported by fighter jets, is Israel’s response to a Hamas-led attack that killed 1,200 people.
There has been no formal judgment establishing that Israel has violated international humanitarian law in the past weeks but concerns have been repeatedly voiced by UN senior officials as Israel withholds water, fuel and electricity supplies to the enclave while also bombarding heavily populated areas. Israel rejects the accusations and says it warns civilians before strikes.
Top US officials have also recently raised concerns over Israel’s military tactics, yet such warnings from its closest ally seem to have had little impact on the government, which resumed its intense bombardment of Gaza on Friday after a seven-day truce expired.
Oxfam, which was supported in the Dutch court case by peace organisation Pax and NGO The Rights Forum, argues that such concerns should be enough for the state to suspend the exports of F-35 components to Israel because there is a risk that they will be used in a way that violates international humanitarian law.
“We are not asking for a formal recognition of violations but an acknowledgement that there is a risk,” said Mr Servaes.
“The basic question the judge needs to answer is: should the Dutch government abide by its own rules and by the international treaties they signed up to?
“Our view is that if there is a risk of violations, the permits should be withdrawn.”
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