Hague court rejects bid to ban transfer to Israel of F-35 fighter jet parts from Dutch warehouse

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This article was published 15/12/2023 (692 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — A Dutch court on Friday rejected a request by a group of human rights and humanitarian organizations to order a halt to the transfer to Israel of parts for F-35 fighter jets.

The organizations went to court Dec. 4 arguing that delivery of parts for the aircraft makes the Netherlands complicit in possible war crimes being committed by Israel in its war with Hamas. The parts are stored in a warehouse in the Dutch town of Woensdrecht.

In a written statement, the Hague District Court said the judge who heard the civil case concluded that the government of the Netherlands “weighed the relevant interests” before agreeing to the delivery of parts.

Lawyer Liesbeth Zegveld told the court that the Dutch government decided to continue transferring F-35 parts to Israel even after the deadly Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas triggered the Israel-Hamas war.

“The warning that the fighter jets can contribute to serious breaches of the laws of war does not, for the (Dutch) state, outweigh its economic interests and diplomatic reputation,” Zegveld said.

Government lawyer Reimer Veldhuis told the judge hearing the civil case that a ban on transfers from the Netherlands would effectively be meaningless as “the United States would deliver these parts to Israel from another place.”

Zegveld said she would appeal the decision.

She said “human rights are put behind or after or lower than political foreign policy interests. That is amazing given what’s happening in Gaza.”

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Full AP coverage of the Israel-Hamas war at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war