Dutch Foreign Minister Frans Timmermans Tuesday said he finds it "unacceptable" that UN schools and hospitals have become targets of Israeli attacks on Gaza.
In an opinion piece published in the Dutch paper NRC Handelsblad, the Dutch minister calls for an independent inquiry into the proportionality of the Israeli intervention in Gaza. About the Israeli bombings and Hamas' rockets, he wrote that they "only increase the hate, the fear and the hopelessness" referring to more than 1,800 deaths so far in Gaza.
He noted that demonstrations in Rotterdam, Amsterdam and The Hague, make clear that Dutch feel deeply involved in what is happening in Gaza.
He, however, stressed that "this is not a conflict between Jews and Muslims. Whoever is making it in the Netherlands, not only falls in the trap of radicals, but also deprives us the opportunity to be a positive influence in the region."