Al-Haq strongly welcomes the 26 September 2025 Concluding Observations of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights on the Netherlands periodic review, and emphasises the urgent necessity that such recommendations be comprehensively applied.

Building upon the authoritative jurisprudence of the International Court of Justice in its 2024 advisory opinion Legal Consequences arising from the Policies and Practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and the Court’s provisional measures Order of 26 January 2024 in the case of Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in the Gaza Strip (South Africa v. Israel), the Committee has recommended that as a state party to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), that the Netherlands:

• Take all necessary and urgent measures to ensure a complete ban and its effective implementation on the export and transit of weapons, weapon parts, and dual-use items to Israel;
• Cease all trade and investment relations that can contribute to the current gross and systematic human rights violations of the Palestinian people, particularly in the Gaza Strip, to life, food, health, water and sanitation, housing, and the right to self-determination; and
• Take all necessary steps to avoid recognising, aiding, or assisting the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory, including by all business enterprises domiciled in its territory or under its jurisdiction.

Background

By way of written and oral submissions to the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the treaty monitoring body for the Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Third World Network (TWN), Al-Haq, Al-Haq Europe, and the Arab NGO Network for Development, sought that the Committee act so as to direct state parties, and specifically the Netherlands, as to the nature and scope of their legal obligations under the Covenant, particularly in light of the analysis of Covenant rights which had been central to the 2024 Palestine Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice.

In finding that Israel’s presence in the occupied Palestinian territory is unlawful, the ICJ’s Palestine Advisory Opinion drew significantly on the application of the ICESCR and Israel’s violations of the treaty. For example, when concluding that the occupation constitutes an unlawful denial of the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination, described in the Advisory Opinion as - the most fundamental and existential right for all human beings - the ICJ had clear regard to Article 1 of the Covenant. Further, in determining that Israel is acting in violation of Article 3 of the International Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination – the prohibition of racial segregation and apartheid – the ICJ concluded that the régime of comprehensive restrictions imposed by Israel on Palestinians in the Occupied Palestinian Territory constitutes systemic discrimination under Article 2(2) of the ICESCR.

While the Netherlands acknowledged, and endorsed, the ICJ’s affirmation as to the application of the ICESCR’s right to self-determination to Palestinians in its written intervention to the ICJ in the pending proceedings in Obligations of Israel in relation to the Presence and Activities of the United Nations, Other International Organizations and Third States in and in relation to the Occupied Palestinian Territory (para.3.3), it has failed to meet the legal obligations identified by the ICJ not to contribute to the maintenance of the unlawful occupation.

The written submission to the Committee observed that the Netherlands remains the largest investor in Israel and is responsible for two-thirds of the EU investments in Israel and is the largest single investor in Israel worldwide, and has maintained its position as the primary destination for Israeli investment within the European Union (para 25). The Netherlands continues to purchase and import significant amounts of military equipment from Israel, and permits its seaports and logistical infrastructure to be used for the shipment of military equipment to Israel, equipment which is central to the perpetuation of unlawful occupation, apartheid, and genocide.

States parties are required to take the steps necessary to prevent human rights violations abroad by corporations domiciled in their territory and/or jurisdiction, and the submissions emphasised that the Committee’s General Comment No. 24 (2017) on State obligations in the context of business activities, and particularly its interpretation of state party’s extraterritorial obligations, read in light of the Advisory Opinion, required states parties to the Covenant, including the Netherlands, to meet also their extraterritorial obligations to respect, protect, and fulfil Covenant rights.

1. The Committee’s Recommendations

The Committee first expressed its concern ‘about reports that arms exports from the State Party to Israel and other commercial engagements may contribute to gross and systematic human rights violations in the Palestinian Occupied territories, in particular in the Gaza Strip’ (para 16).

The Committee proceeded to recommend that the Netherlands:

‘Ensure that its arms export controls and licensing decisions are fully consistent with its obligations under the Covenant; in particular, take all necessary and urgent measures to ensure a complete ban and its effective implementation on the export and transit of weapons, weapon parts, and dual-use items to Israel as well as cease all trade and investment relations that can contribute to the current gross and systematic human rights violations of the Palestinian people, particularly in the Gaza Strip, to life, food, health, water and sanitation, housing, and the right to self-determination, as enshrined in the Covenant and in light of International Court of Justice 2024 decisions.’  (para 17.a)

The Committee further recommends that The Netherlands takes:

‘all necessary steps to avoid recognising, aiding, or assisting the Israel occupation in Palestinian territory, including by ensuring that all business enterprises domiciled in its territory or under its jurisdiction are not involved in the illegal Israeli settlements.’ (para 17.a)

2. Compliance with the Recommendations of the ICJ Palestine Advisory Opinion

The Concluding Observations of the Committee recognise and amplify the core findings of the ICJ’s 2024 Palestine Advisory Opinion, that ‘a key element of the right to self-determination is the right of a people freely to determine its political status and to pursue its economic, social and cultural development’ and that ‘The dependence of the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and especially of the Gaza Strip, on Israel for the provision of basic goods and services impairs the enjoyment of fundamental human rights, in particular the right to self-determination’ (ICJ, 2024, para 241).

In detailing the specific steps which states parties to the Covenant must take, including the imposition of a complete and urgent arms embargo on Israel, the Committee is reaffirming, and further clarifying, the ICJ Advisory Opinion’s findings that States have the obligation not to render aid or assistance in maintaining the illegal situation created by Israel. The modalities by which states and international organisations are to give effect to such legal obligations have previously been detailed in UN General Assembly resolution ES-10/24 of September 2024, yet remain unenforced.

In relation to Israel’s illegal presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, States and business entities have been on notice for decades regarding the perpetration of  widespread and systematic human rights violations perpetrated. The Committee’s recommendations express the urgent need for states to review and revise their relationships with Israel, across all aspects of trade, economic, and military relations. In light of the ongoing refusal of third states however to take meaningful steps to meet their legal obligations, Al-Haq reiterates its warning that without active enforcement by Third States and international organisations, and in the face of escalating genocide and consolidation of Zionist settler-colonialism and apartheid, such legal initiatives will remain but a historical record of the failure of the international community of states.