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Tens of thousands of protesters in the Hague dressed in red and marched on Sunday to protest the Dutch government’s policies against Israel.
This is the second time a so-called “red line protest” has been held in the Dutch political capital, exceeding the turnout for a similar event in May.
Protesters walked a five-kilometer loop through the heart of The Hague, symbolically creating a red line that the government said could not be attracted to stop Israeli campaigning in Gaza.
Human rights groups and aid agencies, including Amnesty International, have saved children and doctors without borders who estimated the crowd in March to be more than 150,000 people. Local media has brought the figures closer to 100,000.
“I don’t want to conspire in these horrifying crimes going on there. I want to speak up,” protester Marine Conning said.
In neighbouring Belgium, at least 75,000 people covered in red also collided with the streets of the capital Brussels, police said. The organizers estimated the crowd at 110,000.
Several rallies have been held to draw attention to Israeli actions in Gaza, but Sunday was the largest ever rallies.
According to Amnesty International Netherlands’ Marjon Rosema, the Dutch protests sent a “clear signal.” Dutch officials “now must act to increase pressure on the Israeli government, both at the national and international level,” she said in a statement.
Resigning Prime Minister Dick Schuf responded to the protest with X’s post. “We look at you and hear you,” he wrote, adding, “Our ultimate goal is the same: bringing an end to the suffering of Gaza as soon as possible.”
During the first Red Line protest in May, the march took the crowds past the Palace of Peace, the headquarters of the United Nations International Court of Justice. Last year, a judge ordered Israel to do everything he could to prevent the death, destruction and massacre in Gaza.
Israel strongly denies it violating Gaza’s international law.
Several UN agencies and other humanitarian organisations have accused Israel of committing humanitarian crimes against Palestinians in Gaza, including ethnic cleansing.
Experts from the UN Independent International Committee on Search have said in a report this week that Israel committed a “extinction” crime by killing civilians who are refuge in schools and religious places.
Amnesty International concluded that Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. Report Released in December.
The war began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas militants attacked southern Israel, killing about 1,200 people. Hamas has held 251 people hostages and currently holds 53 people, less than half of which are less than half alive, and most of the rest after being released in ceasefire contracts or other transactions.
Subsequent Israeli attacks killed more than 55,300 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry run by Hamas, which does not distinguish fighter jets and civilians. The numbers have been repeatedly cited by international organizations such as the United Nations.
Additional sources •AP
