NGOs sue Denmark to end arms export to Israel

A group of NGOs today said they will sue the Danish state to end the Nordic country’s arms exports to Israel, citing concerns that its weapons were being used to commit serious crimes against civilians during the war on Gaza, Reuters reports.

In February, a Dutch court ordered the Netherlands to block all exports of F-35 fighter jet parts to Israel over concerns they were being used to violate international law in Gaza.

Amnesty International Denmark, Oxfam Denmark, ActionAid Denmark and Palestinian human rights organisation Al-Haq in a joint statement said they will sue the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the National Police, which approves Danish sales of weapons and military equipment. They said they would file the lawsuit to a yet unspecified court within the next three weeks.

The Danish Foreign Ministry and the National Police did not have an immediate comment.

“For five months we have been talking about a potential genocide in Gaza, but we have not seen politicians take action,” Tim Whyte, secretary-general of ActionAid Denmark, said in a statement.

Israel denies committing war crimes in its offensive in Gaza, where over 31,000 Palestinians have been killed since early October.

In January, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordered Israel to prevent acts of genocide against Palestinians and do more to help civilians.

Denmark is a signatory of the United Nations Arms Trade Treaty, making all its arms transfers subject to rigorous risk and human rights assessments.

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