A Dutch court ruled Thursday that there is a risk Israel could commit genocide in Gaza but dismissed an appeal to stop arms exports to the state, whose campaign has killed more than 68,000 Palestinians over the past two years.
The Hague Court of Appeal found that although "there is a serious risk that Israel will commit genocide against the Palestinian population in Gaza," it was up to the Dutch government to decide what actions to take and not judges. The court noted the government has "considerable discretion" to determine foreign policy and issues of national security.
The ruling has been met with mixed feelings from one of the 10 pro-Palestinian and Dutch civil society organisations challenging the court's initial decision to uphold their exports.
While calling the initial decision is a "really big win" and "quite groundbreaking", Daan de Grefte, Senior Legal Officer at the European Legal Support Centre (ELSC), told The New Arab that the dismissal was ultimately "unfortunate".
"We think that in terms of practical effects, the decision is very disappointing, in a more theoretical sense…the Dutch government is forced to take into account the serious risk of genocide in all future decisions about Palestine," de Grefte told The New Arab.
He said the decision will severely limit the government's ability to support Israel through weapons and investment explaining that the outcome of the ruling will be substantial.
De Grefte emphasised that the ruling itself is the first ever national court decision saying that there is a "serious risk" of genocide being committed by Israel in Gaza, meaning that Article One of the 1948 Genocide Convention enters into force.
"Now the Dutch state has to take all measures that are reasonably available to them to stop that genocide," he explained.
De Grefte added that this is in clear contrast with what the Dutch government has said previously, having always held that the legal obligations are not yet in force because the International Court of Justice has to decide that genocide has in fact been committed, even though the court says that this is not how the Convention should be read.
Following the Dutch court's December 2024 rejection of banning arms exports, despite acknowledging the government's international obligations, the organisations filed an appeal against the decision.
They argued that as the Netherlands is a signatory to the Genocide Convention, they have a duty to take all reasonable measures at its disposal to prevent genocide. The state's lawyers have argued its foreign policy towards Israel was lawful, and export licenses are constantly reviewed on a case-by-case basis.
The court stated in writing that it could not impose a blanket ban because the groups had not demonstrated that the government routinely failed to consider whether exported arms or dual-use goods would be used to violate rights.
It added that the government had already done enough to discourage companies from operating in the occupied territories.
The organisations had three demands of the court. The first was to stop arms exports to Israel, as there is a risk of them being used to commit or facilitate violations of international humanitarian law and genocide.
The second was stopping all exports of military dogs to the Israeli authorities, as Israel has been found using military dogs to attack and terrorise Palestinian civilians in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.
The third was to take steps to prevent trade and investment relations between Dutch companies and illegal Israeli settlements.