A group of human rights organizations sued the Dutch government last Monday, claiming that the supply of spare parts for fifth-generation F-35 fighter jets contributes to violations of international law in the Gaza Strip.
The case concerns US-owned parts for F-35s stored in a warehouse in the Netherlands and then shipped to several countries, including Israel, under existing export agreements, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.
Oxfam Novib, one of the human rights groups that filed the lawsuit, said the exports “made the Netherlands complicit in violations of the laws of war and collective punishment of Gaza’s civilian population.”
According to the latest figures from the Palestinian side, the war that broke out on 7 October in the Strip has killed more than 16,000 people, more than 70 per cent of them children, women and the elderly.
“By supplying parts for military equipment, the Netherlands risks becoming complicit in violations of international humanitarian law,” said Dagmar Oudshoorn, director of Amnesty International, a London-headquartered human rights organization.
“It is almost unbelievable that these bombs (from F-35s) were dropped because of Dutch military support. But this has to stop,” Michel Servaes, director of Oxfam Novib, said in turn.
Last month, authorities in the western European country said it was unclear whether they even had the right to interfere with the arms deliveries, which are part of a US-led operation to distribute spare parts to all its partners in the F-35 programme.
“Based on current information about the use of Israeli F-35s (in the Gaza Strip), it cannot be established that these aircraft are involved in serious violations of international humanitarian law,” the Dutch government said in a letter to the country’s parliament.
But Liesbeth Segveld, the plaintiffs’ human rights lawyer, told reporters:
“It is clear that these aircraft are being used over the Gaza Strip for aerial bombardment and to assist (Israeli) ground forces.”
A decision on the case initiated by human rights activists is expected in about two weeks, AFP said.
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