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
Kremlin welcomes US sanctions waiver says US and Russia share interest in stable energy markets
DUBAI: Russia sees a U.S. sanctions waiver on its oil as an attempt by Washington to stabilise global energy markets, and the two countries have a shared interest in this, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday.
"We see actions by the United States aimed at trying to stabilise energy markets. In this respect, our interests coincide," he said.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced a temporary authorisation allowing countries around the world to purchase Russian oil currently stranded at sea on Thursday extending a measure that had previously been granted only to Indian refiners.
Bessent stressed in a post on X that the authorisation would not provide significant financial benefit to the Russian government.
“This narrowly tailored, short-term measure applies only to oil already in transit and will not provide significant financial benefit to the Russian government, which derives the majority of its energy revenue from taxes assessed at the point of extraction,” Bessent said on a post on X.
However, the measure received mix reviews in European capitals, with many fearing it could help replenish Russia's assualt on Ukraine.
"I am concerned that we are further filling Putin's war chest," German Economy Minister Katherina Reiche said in Berlin on Friday.
Reiche said that she saw both sides to the United States' decision to issue a 30-day waiver for the purchase of Russian oil products, understanding the increasing ecnomic and political turnout from the oil crisis, particurlarly in South Korea and Japan.
"It seems to me that domestic political pressure in the United States is very, very high," Reiche said.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz was more direct, saying on Friday that it was wrong to ease sanctions against Russia for whatever reason. The sentiment was echoed by Norway’s Prime Minister, who also said sanctions should not be eased.
Oil prices held gains above $100 Friday and most equity markets dropped after Iran's leader called for the blocking of the crucial Strait of Hormuz and the opening up of new fronts in the war against the United States and Israel.
With the conflict heading towards its third week and showing no signs of ending, investors are growing increasingly worried about an extended crisis that could fan inflation and hammer the global economy.
