The government finally draws a line, but still has much more to do to help Gaza

It is a first step. But first steps also count. The letter that Minister of Foreign Affairs Caspar Veldkamp (NSC) sent to European Commissioner Kaja Kallas this week about the Gaza war contains some rightly harsh words. Veldkamp, ​​who has operated cautiously until now despite his great involvement in the subject, wrote to Kallas that he wants the European Union to investigate whether Israel is violating the conditions of the association agreement with the EU. This agreement , which gives Israel trade advantages, states that human rights and democracy are central. It is clear that Israel is violating that condition, Veldkamp rightly states. In addition, the Netherlands is blocking with a veto the planned extension of the so-called EU-Israel Action Plan, which allows Israeli students to participate in the Erasmus exchange programme and Israeli NGOs to receive subsidies.

The signs are on the wall that even the Dutch government is starting to have had enough. Israel is grossly violating humanitarian and war law. The way in which the Palestinian population in Gaza is being terrorized cannot continue without fierce international condemnation. The international community must do everything it can to prevent worse. Israel has cut off humanitarian aid to Gaza, causing the population to go hungry. More than 50,000 people have been killed and countless wounded. And Gaza can only expect more misery. For example, the far-right Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich said that Gaza will be “totally destroyed” within a few months. The 2.3 million Gazans, hunted down, traumatized and threatened with death, will be forcibly brought together in a small part of the small area, between the southern border town of Rafah and Khan Younis, slightly further north. Gazans will become so desperate that they will want to flee Gaza, Smotrich said. For those who still had doubts: this is ethnic cleansing.

And this ethnic cleansing has been going on for a long time. Gaza is being bombed flat, the life is being sucked out of the densely populated area, causing those who are lucky to flee. Israel is packing civilians into a small area, and the Netanyahu government has made it clear that it has no intention of leaving Gaza after the war. There is no clear or realistic end goal, giving Netanyahu the opportunity to prolong the war as long as he wants. The destruction of Hamas, often mentioned as a goal by Netanyahu, will not happen. The Israeli hostages still trapped in Gaza will not come home in this way either.

The Dutch attitude towards Israel has been too soft for far too long. The Schoof cabinet and the fourth Rutte cabinet have uttered little or no condemnatory words when tens of thousands of civilians were murdered. That is morally reprehensible, certainly for the country that, as host country of the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court, presents itself as the guardian of international law. Moreover: it leads nowhere. It is precisely countries that take their friendship with Israel seriously that could point it to the disastrous, dark path that the Netanyahu government has chosen.

Prime Ministers Rutte and Schoof have drawn so-called 'red lines' several times, which turned out to be worthless. Rutte drew that line in the event of a possible invasion of Rafah. When that happened, nothing happened. Schoof said at the end of last year in response to questions from NRC that his 'red line' is the international law of war. That has been clearly violated. For example, when fifteen aid workers in Gaza were executed by the Israeli army in March, after which Israel lied about the circumstances. The blockade of aid supplies is also such a violation of the law of war.

Ultimately, this blockade was one of the concrete reasons for Minister Veldkamp's letter. Prime Minister Schoof spoke of a "sum of things" on Friday. However significant, that step could - and should - have been taken much earlier. And it should not stand alone. The Netherlands should not only aim for an international response, it can also do more itself. For example, with targeted sanctions that affect the settler movement or the war in Gaza. But the defense cooperation between the Netherlands and Israel remains virtually untouched. The government is lagging behind public opinion in this respect. Only 15 percent of the population supports the government's pro-Israeli policy, according to research by Ipsos I&O last month. At the start of the war, that was still 29 percent. The government must do much more quickly, and the Dutch population sees it that way too. Minister Veldkamp's letter should therefore not remain a one-off act.