Hundreds of thousands join ‘Red Line’ anti-Israel protest in Amsterdam | Israeli-Palestinian conflict News

Protesters are calling for tougher trade restrictions against Israel and a halt to all arms sales.

More than 200,000 people took to the streets of Amsterdam, Netherlands, demanding government action against Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, according to the Netherlands branch of Amnesty International, one of the organizers.

Sunday’s “Red Line” protesters, many of whom wore red clothing, called for tougher trade restrictions against Israel and a halt to all arms sales.

“What’s happening there is inhumane,” Mike van Dongen said as he walked among the huge crowd.

“As far as I am concerned, (the Dutch authorities) are not doing anything,” he said. “They don’t dare to take serious action.”

As protesters marched down a normally busy Amsterdam street closed to traffic on Sunday, a man stood at a bus stop with a loudspeaker shouting: “Free Palestine, free!” » Many demonstrators echoed his cry as they passed.

At least 74,000 dead in Gaza

Israel’s genocidal war has killed at least 74,000 Palestinians, including 21,000 children, since October 2023.

Sunday’s protest was similar to one in early October last year. This followed the “Red Line” protests last June, when demonstrators marched through the streets of The Hague.

A “ceasefire” came into effect in Gaza on October 10 last year, but Israeli attacks and killings have continued almost daily since.

The war in Gaza has strained relations between the Netherlands and Israel. The Dutch foreign minister resigned last year after failing to secure new sanctions against Israel.

Since then, a new minority coalition government took power in February and introduced a ban on imports of products from Israeli settlements, which the Dutch government and most of the international community consider illegal – the ban sparked a diplomatic row with Israel.

Prime Minister Rob Jetten, who participated in a march last year but was not present Sunday, defended his government’s actions during his weekly news conference Friday.

“Every day and every week we do what we can to alleviate the terrible situation there,” he said.

He added that his administration is “exerting greater political and diplomatic pressure” on Israel to honor its Gaza agreements.