THE HAGUE: A Dutch appeals court on Thursday dismissed an appeal by a group of human rights organizations that filed a lawsuit arguing the Netherlands was violating international law by continuing to sell weapons to Israel.
The Hague Court of Appeal found that although “there is a serious risk that Israel will commit genocide against the Palestinian population in Gaza,” the Dutch government has “considerable discretion” to determine foreign policy and issues of national security.
The group of 10 NGOs were hoping the lawsuit would force the Dutch to stop sending weapons and trained police dogs to Israel and cut economic ties with businesses operating in occupied Palestinian territory.
The activist groups pointed to several emergency orders from another court, the International Court of Justice, that they say confirmed the obligation to stop weapons sales. In January, the top UN court said it was plausible Palestinians were being deprived of some rights protected under the Genocide Convention.
A lower court ruled last year that there were sufficient checks already in place to comply with international law. In Thursday’s decision, the court noted that the government had already taken a number of measures, including stopping the exports of some products.
The Dutch government denied it is in violation of the 1948 Genocide Convention, drawn up following World War II. “Every cooperation is cautiously weighed,” government lawyer Reimer Veldhuis said during a hearing last year.
That hearing was held the day after another judicial institution in The Hague, the International Criminal Court, issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense chief for alleged war crimes in Gaza.
Netanyahu strongly denies the accusation.
Judges had postponed Thursday’s decision until after the Dutch Supreme Court ruled in a separate case on the export of fighter jet parts to Israel.
Human rights groups filed suit in 2023 to halt the export of F-35 fighter jet parts to Israel, citing a clear risk of violations of international law if they are used in strikes on Gaza.
Last month the Supreme Court ordered the Dutch government to reevaluate its currently suspended license. Foreign Minister David van Weel said at the time that it was unlikely that exports would resume “given the current situation” in Gaza.
A fragile US-brokered ceasefire aims to wind down the war that was triggered by the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel that killed about 1,200 people and saw 251 taken hostage on Oct. 7, 2023.
Israel responded with a sweeping military offensive that has killed more than 68,800 Palestinians in Gaza, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The ministry, part of the Hamas-run government and staffed by medical professionals, maintains detailed records viewed as generally reliable by independent experts.
Dutch court dismisses appeal seeking to halt weapons exports to Israel
https://arab.news/2ced9
Dutch court dismisses appeal seeking to halt weapons exports to Israel
- The group of 10 NGOs were hoping the lawsuit would force the Dutch to stop sending weapons and trained police dogs to Israel
- The Dutch government denied it is in violation of the 1948 Genocide Convention
Mexico’s Sheinbaum to hold a support rally following major protests
- Sheinbaum called for supporters to gather in the capital on the weekend in what analysts said was an attempt to demonstrate her support in the face of growing scrutiny
MEXICO CITY: Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has organized a large rally in the country’s capital on Saturday to shore up her support following a month of political pushback and major protests.
The killing of Mayor Carlos Manzo in restive Michoacan state had sparked two days of demonstrations in November with protesters setting fire to public buildings.
Just weeks later, thousands marched through the streets of Mexico City to protest drug violence and the government’s security policies. That was followed by the abrupt departure of the country’s attorney general, Alejandro Gertz, in December over reported disagreements with Sheinbaum’s administration on crime policy.
Sheinbaum called for supporters to gather in the capital on the weekend in what analysts said was an attempt to demonstrate her support in the face of growing scrutiny.
“We close this 2025 with the historic celebration of seven years of transformation,” Sheinbaum said in a post on X.
Sheinbaum took office in 2024, following the six-year tenure of her predecessor Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, with both leaders representing the left-wing Morena party.
“Let us together defend the people’s achievements ... in the Zocalo of Mexico City,” Sheinbaum added, referring to the capital’s main public square where weeks ago protesters criticizing her government’s security policies had clashed with police.
Though Sheinbaum has seen high approval ratings in her first year of power, they dipped slightly in recent months, easing from 74 percent in October to 71 percent at the start of December, according to the Polls MX survey summary.
- ‘Reshape the narrative’ -
Analysts told AFP the president not only faces scrutiny from her political opponents and members of the public, but from within her own party.
This gathering in the Zocalo, the country’s main square, is an “attempt at internal support, to reshape the narrative, to call for unity,” said political analyst Pablo Majluf.
Political columnist Hernan Gomez Bruera told AFP that Sheinbaum is “an incredibly efficient president” who likes to be in control and demands a lot from her team. But she is also “very thin-skinned” and “has difficulty dealing with dissent,” he added.
Despite a slight slip in poll numbers over the past few months, the leftist leader, who is Mexico’s first woman president, is still benefiting from a decline in poverty levels that began under her predecessor.
Sheinbaum has also won praise among her supporters for keeping at bay US President Donald Trump’s threats of high trade tariffs and military action on Mexican soil against drug cartels.
Sheinbaum met with Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney in Washington on Friday to discuss trade on the sidelines of the draw for the 2026 World Cup, which will be co-hosted by all three countries. She said on X following the meeting that the three nations maintain a “very good relationship.”
