By Stephanie van den Berg
THE HAGUE (Reuters) -The Supreme Court of the Netherlands ordered the Dutch government on Friday to review its policies on weapons exports to Israel.
The court did not uphold a ban on the export of parts for F-35 fighter jets ordered by a lower court last year, but it said the government needed to assess whether there was a risk of the jet parts being used in violation of international law.
It gave the government six weeks to carry out this review, during which the export of fighter jet parts would still be banned.
“As long as the minister does not make a new decision on the export licence, the current licence remains valid and export of F-35 parts to Israel is not allowed,” presiding judge Martijn Polak said.
In February 2024, the Court of Appeal in The Hague ordered the government to halt the export of jet parts, ruling that there was a clear risk that Israel’s F-35 fighter jets were being used to commit serious violations of international humanitarian law in the Gaza Strip.
Friday’s ruling overturning that order underlined that any review of the export licence should look at possible violations of international law.
“If the minister determines that there is a clear risk that the goods to be exported will be used in committing serious violations of international humanitarian law, he may no longer allow the use of the licence,” the court said.
The Netherlands houses one of several regional warehouses of U.S.-owned F-35 parts, which are distributed to countries that request them, including Israel in at least one shipment since October 7, 2023.
Since gunmen from the Palestinian militant group Hamas stormed into southern Israel on October 7, 2023, Israel’s military assault on Gaza has turned much of the enclave into a wasteland, killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and set off a humanitarian catastrophe.
Israel denies violating international law in its offensive in Gaza, which it says is intended to eliminate Hamas.
(Reporting by Bart Meijer and Stephanie van den Berg; Editing by Alison Williams and Timothy Heritage)
