Tens of thousands rally in Dutch Gaza protest

Tens of thousands of people dressed in red marched through the streets of The Hague Sunday to demand more action from the Dutch government against what they termed a "genocide" in Gaza.
Rights groups such as Amnesty International and Oxfam organised the demonstration through the city to the International Court of Justice, creating a so-called "red line".
Many waving Palestinian flags and some chanting "Stop the Genocide", the demonstrators turned a central park in the city into a sea of red on a sunny afternoon.
One of the organising groups, Oxfam Novib, estimated that 150,000 people had taken part in the march. Dutch police generally do not estimate demonstration turnouts.
Protesters brandished banners reading "Don't look away, do something", "Stop Dutch complicity", and "Be silent when kids sleep, not when they die".
Organisers urged the Dutch government -- which collapsed on June 3 after a far-right party pulled out of a fragile coalition -- to do more to rein in Israel for its military offensive on the Palestinian territory.
"People in Gaza cannot wait and the Netherlands has a duty to do everything it can to stop the genocide," they said in their call to action.
Dodo Van Der Sluis, a 67-year-old pensioner, told AFP: "It has to stop. Enough is enough. I can't take it anymore."
"I'm here because I think it's maybe the only thing you can do now as a Dutch citizen, but it's something you have to do," she added.
A previous protest in The Hague on May 18 drew more than 100,000 people, according to organisers, who described it as the country's largest demo in 20 years.
Police also did not give an estimate for that demonstration.
The Gaza war was sparked by the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel by Palestinian militant group Hamas.
That assault resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official figures.
The militants also took 251 hostages, of whom 54 are still thought to be held in Gaza, including 32 the Israeli military has said are dead.
The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza says Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed at least 55,207 people, the majority of them civilians.
The United Nations considers the figures reliable.
The International Court of Justice is currently weighing a case brought by South Africa against Israel, arguing its actions in Gaza breach the 1948 UN Genocide Convention.
Israel strongly rejects the accusations.
ric/jhb

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

Washington Post

41 minutes ago

• Washington Post

Trump bombs Iran, raising the ghosts of Iraq

You're reading an excerpt from the WorldView newsletter. Sign up to get the rest, including news from around the globe and interesting ideas and opinions to know, sent to your inbox on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. History doesn't repeat itself, but it can rhyme. There are many obvious reasons why 2025 is not 2003, but the specter of the invasion of Iraq still hangs over President Donald Trump's decision to launch targeted strikes on Iran this weekend. Then, as now, the intelligence assessments underlying U.S. strikes didn't quite match the claims of U.S. politicians. Then, as now, European governments called for restraint, though Britain seemed more supportive of aggressive action. Then, as now, many Western pundits (and the Israeli prime minister) exulted at the prospect of successful regime change in the Middle East.

Associated Press

43 minutes ago

• Associated Press

Spain reaches deal with NATO ahead of summit to be excluded from 5% defense spending goal

MADRID (AP) — Spain reached a deal with NATO to be excluded from a 5% of GDP defense spending target, days before the military alliance's leaders will gather at a summit, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said on Sunday. 'Spain will, therefore, not spend 5% of its GDP on defense, but its participation, weight and legitimacy in NATO remain intact,' Sánchez said in a televised address. Sánchez said that Spain would be able to keep its commitments to the 32-nation military alliance by spending 2.1% of GDP on defense needs. In letters exchanged on Sunday between NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte and Sánchez, Spain was granted the exemption and the language around the 5% spending target was made to no longer include 'all allies,' Sánchez said. On Thursday, Sánchez told Rutte in a separate letter that Spain could not commit to the spending target. The move threatened to derail the upcoming summit at The Hague, which U.S. President Donald Trump is due to attend, since any new spending guidelines have to made with the consensus of all 32 NATO member states. Last year, Spain spent 1.28% per NATO estimates on military expenditure, making it the alliance's lowest spender. In April, Sánchez announced that the government would raise defense spending to 2% this year, a move that he received pushback for at home including from some allies. On Friday, Trump said Spain 'has to pay what everybody else has to pay,' calling the eurozone's fourth-largest economy 'a very low payer.' 'They were either good negotiators or they weren't doing the right thing,' Trump told reporters. On Sunday, Sánchez said Spain 'believes that Europe should take charge of its own defense, an idea aligned with opinions such as those expressed by President Trump.' But he called reaching a 5% spending target 'incompatible with our worldview.'

Yahoo

an hour ago

• Yahoo

Spain agrees with NATO to skip 5% defence spending target

MADRID (Reuters) -Spain agreed with the NATO military alliance to be excluded from spending 5% of its gross domestic product on defence, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Sunday. "A 5% spending would be disproportionate and unnecessary," Sanchez said in an address on national television. "We fully respect the legitimate desire of other countries to increase their defence investment, but we are not going to do it," he said, adding Spain could meet all its commitments to NATO, in terms of staff or equipment, by spending only 2.1% of its GDP. Diplomats had said earlier on Sunday the 32 countries comprising NATO had agreed on a statement for the upcoming summit setting a goal of 5% of GDP for annual defence and security related by 2035 overcoming Spain's objection. In a letter sent on Thursday, Sanchez had told NATO chief Mark Rutte his country wanted to opt out of a new 5% spending target. The letter raised concerns that Spain would derail the whole summit. At an estimated 1.28% of GDP, Spain had the lowest proportion of expenditure on defence in the alliance last year, according to NATO estimates. Sanchez agreed in April to accelerate efforts to meet NATO's current target of 2% this year.