Massive protest won't change Dutch government's Israel policy: Foreign Min. spokesperson

Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp (NSC) did not respond to the demonstration against the government’s policy on Israel in The Hague on Sunday. Around 100,000 protesters demanded that Israel immediately stop the war in Gaza. A spokesperson on behalf of the Minister said that the government continues to work in front of and behind the scenes for a quick ceasefire and for the hostages to be released.

That has been the Dutch government’s position for some time. On Friday, Veldkamp told journalists that the government is very concerned about the catastrophic situation in Gaza and Israel's intensification of the war. The Netherlands also condemns Israel’s ongoing blockade of humanitarian aid and has taken several strong diplomatic steps, he said. He referred to a letter to the High Representative of the EU, Kaja Kallas, to send a strong signal about this. That position did not change on Sunday, the spokesperson said.

D66 leader Rob Jetten accused PVV leader Geert Wilders of “sowing senseless division” and asked him to stop doing so. He said that on X at the end of the protest in The Hague on Sunday afternoon, in which he also participated.

Wilders criticized the protesters at the start of the demonstration, calling them confused on X. “Today, a demonstration against Israel + for Hamas. Thousands of confused people are drawing a red line. I am also drawing a red line. Against terror and the starvation of their own population by Hamas, and for maximum destruction of their murderous infrastructure. And for Israel,” Wilders, an avid supporter of Benjamin Netanyahu’s regime, said on X.

Jetten responded to this later: “Wilders is always full of talk about ‘what the Dutch want.’ Until those same Dutch speak out en masse against Wilders. Stop sowing senseless division. 100,000 people are demonstrating today against the inhumane suffering inflicted on innocent Palestinians.”

The counter for how many Gazans Israel has killed since a Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October 2023 topped 53,000 on Friday, Al Jazeera reported. Over 120,000 people in Gaza are injured, and thousands are missing under the rubble, presumed dead. Israel also started blocking all food, water, and medicine from entering Gaza on March 2.

The Netanyahu government announced today that “basic aid” would start entering the Palestinian territory again. But according to UNICEF Nederland, that is far from enough. The children in Gaza need massive aid, not just food, the UN children’s rights organization said.

CARE Nederland said that the situation in Gaza is more dire than ever. “There is no time to lose. People have been living for months without sufficient food, water, or medical care, while kilometers of trucks with aid supplies are stuck at the border,” a spokesperson for the humanitarian organization said. “This basic amount is far from enough. It is a band-aid for massive bleeding. At least 600 trucks per day must enter, and that must happen immediately.”