Netherlands to oppose extension of EU-Israel cooperation deal over Gaza concerns

The EU-Israel Action Plan, which requires unanimous approval from all EU foreign ministers, underpins cooperation in areas such as climate policy, policing, scientific research, and global poverty relief.

By Ailin Vilches Arguello, The Algemeiner

Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp revealed on Wednesday that the Netherlands would oppose any extension of the EU-Israel Action Plan, which aims to implement an agreement that provides the basis for political and economic cooperation between the two sides, without a formal review first, citing concerns over the Israeli military campaign in Gaza.

In a letter to the European Union’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, the Dutch top diplomat accused Israel of breaching the 2000 EU-Israel Association Agreement, which stipulates that ties between the Jewish state and the 27-member bloc must be “based on respect for human rights and democratic principles.”

“The situation in the Gaza Strip is rapidly deteriorating — it is dramatic, catastrophic,” Veldkamp told the Dutch newspaper Algemeen Dagblad. “Israel’s blockade of humanitarian aid is in violation of the laws of war.”

Israel has vehemently denied such claims and accusations, noting that, until its recently imposed blockade, it had provided significant humanitarian aid into the enclave throughout the war.

Israeli officials have also said much of the aid that flows into Gaza is stolen by Hamas, which uses it for terrorist operations and sells the rest at high prices to Gazan civilians.

“Meanwhile, the [Israeli] War Cabinet is announcing a reoccupation of Gaza. Taken together, this is reason to draw a line in the sand,” the top Dutch diplomat continued, referring to Israel’s expanded offensive against the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas, which may involve seizing control of the Gaza Strip and overseeing aid distribution.

In his letter, Veldkamp also argued that Israel’s newly proposed system for aid distribution, designed to bypass Hamas, seemed inconsistent with the “principles of neutrality, impartiality, and independence.”

Veldkamp, a former ambassador to Israel, informed Kallas that the Netherlands would block European cooperation with Jerusalem until these alleged human rights abuses are thoroughly investigated.

He also mentioned that he would bring up these issues during the upcoming two-day EU meeting in Poland.

Israeli officials argue they have gone to unprecedented lengths to try and avoid civilian casualties, despite Hamas’s widely acknowledged military strategy of embedding its terrorists within Gaza’s civilian population and commandeering civilian facilities like hospitals, schools, and mosques to run operations and direct attacks.

The EU-Israel Action Plan, which requires unanimous approval from all EU foreign ministers, underpins cooperation in areas such as climate policy, policing, scientific research, and global poverty relief.

On Wednesday, far-right politician Geert Wilders — whose Party for Freedom is part of the Dutch government — criticized Veldkamp, calling him a “weak minister who sides with anti-Israel protesters” in a post on X.

Earlier this week, Wilders announced he met with Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar and Defense Minister Israel Katz, assuring them of “the support of millions of our people” for the war against “Islamic terror, whether from Hamas, Iran, or the Houthis.”

Last month, Veldkamp requested a meeting with Israeli Ambassador Modi Ephraim to raise concerns over Israel’s expanding ground operations in the war-torn enclave.

“At my request, the Israeli ambassador was summoned this morning to provide clarification on the worrying developments in the Gaza Strip, including the attack on the aid convoy,” the top Dutch diplomat said at the time, referring to a March incident in which several aid workers were reportedly killed along with six Hamas terrorist traveling in a convoy of Palestinian ambulances.

During the meeting, Ephraim “emphasized the expectation that the Netherlands, as a friend of Israel, will support our efforts to dismantle the Hamas threat in Gaza — a terrorist organization that uses civilians as human shields,” the Israeli Embassy said in a statement.