Tens of thousands of demonstrators, including families and children, filled the streets of The Hague on Sunday, passionately protesting Israel’s ongoing military siege of Gaza.
Organized by rights groups like Amnesty International and Oxfam Novib, the rally formed a powerful “red line” to condemn Israel’s war crimes and genocide against Palestinians.
An estimated 150,000 people marched to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which is hearing South Africa’s case accusing Israel of breaching the 1948 UN Genocide Convention.
Waving Palestinian flags and chanting “Stop the Genocide,” protesters held banners reading “Don’t look away, do something” and “Be silent when kids sleep, not when they die.”
The Gaza genocide has claimed over 55,207 Palestinian lives, mostly civilians, per Gaza health authorities, leaving the region devastated and its people displaced.
Protesters voiced frustration with the Dutch caretaker government’s inaction, especially after its June 3 collapse.
Despite caretaker Foreign Affairs Minister Caspar Veldkamp’s May call to review EU-Israel agreements, demonstrators demanded bolder steps to halt Israel’s offensive.
“People in Gaza cannot wait and the Netherlands has a duty to do everything it can to stop the genocide,” organizers declared.
Dodo Van Der Sluis, a 67-year-old pensioner, told AFP: “It has to stop. Enough is enough. I can’t take it anymore.”
This second major rally in a month, following May’s 100,000-strong protest, reflects rising Dutch support for Palestine.
As Gaza faces widespread malnutrition and destruction, the march underscored an urgent call for the Netherlands to oppose Israel’s actions and uphold international law at the ICJ and beyond.