HIBAPRESS
The appeals court in the Netherlands today, Thursday, upheld a previous decision rejecting the lawsuit filed by pro-Palestinian groups, which demanded that the Dutch government be prevented from exporting weapons to Israel and that local companies be prevented from trading with Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories.
A decision that leaves the authority to the government. The court, which is based in The Hague, clarified that determining the actions to be taken in such cases is the prerogative of the state and not the jurisdiction of the judiciary. The text of the decision stated that the court cannot impose a comprehensive ban because the plaintiff groups did not provide sufficient evidence to prove that the government is failing to assess whether the exported weapons or dual-use goods are being used in violation of human rights. The government "exerts sufficient efforts." The court noted that the Dutch government is making real efforts to dissuade companies from engaging in economic activities within Israeli settlements in the occupied territories, considering that these measures are sufficient at the present time. The plaintiffs relied on the humanitarian situation in Gaza. The pro-Palestinian groups had relied in their lawsuit on the large increase in the number of civilian victims as a result of the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip, pointing out that the Netherlands, as a party to the Convention on the Prevention of the Crime of Genocide of 1948, bears a legal and moral duty to prevent any potential acts of genocide. The court recognizes the existence of a "serious risk." Despite the court's confirmation that the Netherlands is bound by the Genocide Prevention Convention and that there is a "serious risk" of Israel committing acts of genocide in Gaza, it ratified the ruling of the first-instance court issued last December, which rejected the lawsuit. The state continues to assess export risks. The judges affirmed their support for the position of the Dutch state, which said that it is continuously assessing the risks associated with the export of weapons and has already rejected some requests in this context, which the court considered evidence of the government's non-compliance with its international obligations.
