THE HAGUE, Netherlands (CN) — A group of human rights organizations were back in court on Friday, telling judges at the Dutch Supreme Court that allowing the country to send F-35 parts to Israel violated international law.
The Dutch government is appealing a ruling from The Hague Court of Appeals, which found in February that Israel is not sufficiently accounting for the risk to civilians in Gaza when using the F-35 fighter jet.
“International law does not allow a state to sit back and do nothing when serious violations of international law are occuring, in particular with the parts that the state is exporting,” lawyer Liesbeth Zegveld said on behalf of Oxfam Novib, Amnesty International and The Rights Forum.
The trio filed a civil suit against the Dutch state in December, arguing the Netherlands was complicit in war crimes.
The Netherlands is home to an F-35 regional warehouse. The fighter jets are owned by the United States, but since 2019, Woensdrecht Air Base in the south of the country has served as a distribution center for spare parts.
The Israeli air force placed an order for parts following the attacks by Hamas on Oct. 7. The Dutch customs office asked the government if it wanted to fill the order, as military goods require an export license; the government gave the go-ahead.
The government has argued that the export decision is a political one, not for the courts to decide and it wasn’t clear that Israel was violating international law. “Halting the exports would severely damage our own security,” lawyer Hans van Wijk argued.
He also claimed a ban would be irrelevant anyway, as Israel would simply get the parts from the United States.
The group returned to court last month, arguing the Netherlands was evading the ban on exporting replacement F-35 parts to Israel over concern the country was violating international law by sending them to other nations instead. But the Hague District Court found there was no evidence the Netherlands was evading the ban.
In January, a lower court ruled the Netherlands could continue to send spare parts. Judges wrote that the government has “a wide degree of freedom” to determine whether or not to send military goods.
That decision was overturned on appeal in February. “There is a clear risk that the exported F-35 parts are used in serious violations of international humanitarian law,” said Judge Bas Boele at the time before ordering the government to stop sending parts within seven days.
The Dutch case came amidst widely followed proceedings at the International Court of Justice, the top court of the United Nations. Late last year, South Africa launched proceedings at the ICJ, accusing Israel of committing genocide against the Palestinian people in Gaza.
ICJ judges have since issued three sets of emergency measures, ordering Israel to adhere to international law, allow in humanitarian aid and give international observers access to the Gaza Strip.
On the other side of The Hague, judges at the International Criminal Court are considering issuing arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant and Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, as well as other senior officials in connection with war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The ICC opened an investigation into supposed war crimes committed in Palestinian territories in 2021 after a panel of ICC judges ruled that the court has jurisdiction over the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, territories Israel occupied following the Six-Day War of 1967.
Both sides have until September 20 to file further written pleadings. A court advocate general will give his opinion on the case before the final ruling is issued, likely in the coming months.