Calls grow in Europe to halt arms exports to Israel as US Senate passes aid package

Some European countries say they have stalled arms exports to Israel amid growing consternation about the way it is waging war against Hamas in Gaza, while the United States Senate on Tuesday passed a $95 billion foreign aid package that includes further aid for Israel.

Some European countries say they have stalled arms exports to Israel amid growing consternation about the way it is waging war against Hamas in Gaza, while the United States Senate on Tuesday passed a $95 billion foreign aid package that includes further security assistance for Israel. A court in the Netherlands on Monday told the Dutch government it must stop exporting F-35 fighter jet parts to Israel, citing a “clear risk” that Israel’s fleet was being used to commit serious violations of international law in the Gaza Strip. Three human rights groups, including Oxfam, brought the case to The Hague Court of Appeal, seeking to overturn a previous court decision that allowed the Dutch government to continue exporting F-35 parts to Israel. In Monday’s ruling, the court ordered the government to stop such exports within seven days. The ruling came after the Italian and Spanish foreign ministers said recently that their countries had stopped all arms sales to Israel since the war began in Gaza more than four months ago, after Hamas’ attack on Israel. A regional government in Belgium also said it had suspended two licenses for gunpowder exports to Israel. The concern around continuing arms exports to Israel comes after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) last month ordered Israel to “take all measures” to comply with international laws on genocide. Israel has vehemently rejected the allegations in the genocide case, but the ICJ ruling added to the domestic pressure on many of Israel’s allies to criticize more forcefully the humanitarian situation in Gaza and demand a ceasefire. The European Union’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell on Monday suggested that the US cut arms supplies to Israel amid mounting concerns about the civilian toll of the war. More than 28,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since October 7, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in the enclave.