Gaza: Netherlands court forbids the nation's arms supply to Israel

The Hague: A Netherlands court upheld a human rights organisation appeal and ruled on Monday that the country must stop delivering parts for F-35 fighter jets used by Israel in Gaza, Agence France-Presse reported.

The rights group had argued that the Netherlands supplying parts contributed to international law violations carried out by Israel in Gaza.

The court ruled that it orders the Netherlands to stop all actual export and transit of F-35 parts in Israel within seven days from its judgement.

Netherlands stores the US-owned F-35 parts in a warehouse in the country and ships it to several partners, including Israel.

The district court in The Hague stated in December that supplying the arms parts was mainly a political decision and judges could not interfere.

Also, according to Dutch authorities, they don't know whether they have the power to intervene in deliveries, which are part of a US-run operation which delivers F-35 parts to all partners. Authorities told the court that if the Netherlands stopped supplying, Israel would procure the same from other countries.

War started in Gaza after the armed group there, Hamas, allegedly initiated attacks on Israel on October 7. So far, more than 28,000 people died in the enclave since then, mostly women and children, AFP reports.

During the October 7 attack, Hamas took 250 people as hostages, according to Israel, and the armed group still holds 130, while 29 are believed to be dead.

The International Court of Justice in The Hague ruled that Israel must do everything to prevent genocidal acts in the enclave.

Meanwhile, in Gaza, the Health Ministry of Hamas said on Saturday in a press statement that the Israeli army killed 117 Palestinians and wounded 152 others in 24 hours, bringing the total number of deaths since the start of the war beyond 28,000.