Middle East Monitor / November 30, 2024
The advocate general of the Supreme Court of the Netherlands, the country’s highest court, was advised on Friday to uphold the ruling banning the Dutch state from exporting F-35 components to Israel.
The Court of Appeal in The Hague in February ordered the government to stop exporting components due to concerns that they would be used to violate international law in the Gaza war, prompting the government to say that it would appeal to the Supreme Court.
“According to the advocate general (of the Supreme Court), the Court of Appeal was justified in finding that there is a clear risk that Israel’s F-35 fighter jets are being used to commit serious violations of international humanitarian law in the Gaza Strip,” the court’s advisor explained.
The Netherlands houses one of several regional warehouses of US-owned F-35 components, which are distributed to countries that request them, including Israel, which has requested at least one shipment since 7 October, 2023.
The Supreme Court said it would rule on the appeal as soon as possible, without giving a specific date.
Human rights groups that brought the case against the state, including Oxfam Netherlands, welcomed the court’s recommendation.
“The government should wait no longer and change course. The complicity in the atrocious violence in Gaza needs to stop as quickly as possible,” the group urged in a statement.
Gaza officials confirmed the Israeli war has killed nearly 44,200 people and caused nearly all of Gaza’s population to be displaced at least once, while vast areas of the territory have been destroyed.
