Dutch Defense minister criticizes Israel for disproportionate response in Gaza

Israel is using “disproportionate force” on the Gaza Strip, outgoing Minister Kajsa Ollongren of Defense told Nieuwsuur on Monday. “I think this war has claimed far too many civilian casualties. We said: Rafah is a place where you cannot carry out a military action without a lot of casualties. Well, that’s what happened.”

The Netherlands supported Israel’s right to defend itself following Hamas terrorist attacks on October 7. But a few weeks after Israel started incessantly bombing the Gaza Strip, Ollongren said in Nieuwsuur that a “pause” was needed in the fighting to stop a “humanitarian catastrophe in development” in Gaza.

But the Netherlands then abstained from voting on a UN resolution for a humanitarian ceasefire. Outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte said that the Netherlands abstained because Israel must retain the right to defend itself. The Netherlands called for a ceasefire for the first time in May.

On Monday, Ollongren told Neiuewsuur that she assumes the decision to abstain from the UN vote was made in “good consultation” within the Cabinet. According to her, resolutions in the UN are mainly about the effect they can achieve, and this resolution would not have had the intended effect of limiting civilian casualties.

Two weeks ago, Israel rescued four hostages from the Gaza Strip. According to the Gaza Ministry of Health, the Israeli forces killed over 200 Palestinians, including many children and women, to do so. Israel denied this, saying there were “only” 100 civilian casualties.

Following that operation, Onno Echelsheim, the Commander of the Dutch Armed Forces, said on Buitenhof that he thought “Israel is currently using disproportionate force to achieve its objectives.”

Ollongren’s successor in the upcoming Cabinet, Ruben Brekelmans (VVD), immediately criticized Eichelsheim, saying that the commander did not have the necessary information to make the legal judgment of disproportionate force.

Ollongren agrees with Eichelsheim’s assessment, she told the current affairs program. “The Commander of the Armed Forces gave his military assessment of the war. That military assessment is that disproprotionate force has been used to achieve military objectives,” she said. According to her, Brekelmans was talking about a political or legal judgement which is “indeed something different.”

On October 7, Hamas committed terrorist attacks in Israel, killing 1,139 people and taking hostages. Israel immediately responded with military attacks on the Gaza Strip and hasn’t stopped bombing the area since.

As of 3:30 p.m. on June 24, local time, Israeli attacks have killed at least 37,626 people in Gaza, including over 15,000 children. Over 86,089 people are injured, and more than 10,000 are missing under the rubble, Al Jazeera reported based on figures from the Palestinian Ministry of Health.