The Netherlands just turned on Israel over sick children in Gaza
6 days ago · 25 September 2026Share
Dutch Foreign Minister Sjoerd Sjoerdsma. File photo. Ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken · CC BY-SA 4.0
The Netherlands is building an international coalition to get at least 1,000 sick and injured kids out of Gaza.
And its own trade minister just told Israel to its face: change your course.
Sjoerd Sjoerdsma is the Dutch Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation. He said it in an interview with Arab News at the UN General Assembly, published about an hour ago.
Sjoerdsma says quote "the amount of children in Gaza who are injured or sick is staggering and it's inhumane".
So what's the plan? Get 1,000 children out, ideally by the end of this week, while more countries join the coalition behind it.
Here's the scale of the problem. The World Health Organization says 18,500 patients in Gaza are waiting for medical evacuation right now.
The Dutch have already put money down. About a week ago, the cabinet approved a €12 million package for urgent medical care for Gaza's children.
€6 million of that pays to evacuate 250 seriously ill and injured children to Jordan. That's under a scheme Jordan's King Abdullah II started in early 2025, to treat 2,000 children from Gaza.
But here's the catch. None of it happens without Israel's permission. And the interview doesn't say whether that permission has been given.
Sjoerdsma isn't just offering money, either. He told Arab News the time for words alone has passed, then said flatly: "Change your course."
He went further than that. This isn't a natural disaster, he said. This is being done by the Israeli government.
Think about that. A minister from one of Israel's closest European allies, naming Israel's government directly. Not the war in general. The government.
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Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza after the 2023-2025 war showing damage to medical infrastructure. File photo. Jaber Jehad Badwan · CC BY-SA 4.0
And it's not just words. Three days ago, a Dutch ban on importing, buying or selling goods from Israeli settlements came into force. It covers Dutch companies operating abroad too. Break it, and you could face up to six years in prison.
Sjoerdsma says more than 10 other countries are now following the Dutch lead on that ban. Worth flagging: that claim comes from Sjoerdsma alone. No other outlet has confirmed it yet.
The Dutch want to go further still. They're pushing the European Union to freeze the trade part of the EU-Israel Association Agreement. Sjoerdsma says they don't have the votes for that yet. Tom Berendsen, the Netherlands' Foreign Affairs Minister, is working with him to bring other European governments round.
This didn't come from nowhere. About a year ago, a survey by Ipsos I&O found 58% of Dutch people wanted their government to be tougher on Israel. 65% didn't support the government's approach at the time.
And Israel has already shown it will hit back. About a month ago, Gideon Sa'ar, Israel's Foreign Minister, threw Dutch representatives out of the Civil-Military Coordination Center in Kiryat Gat, which helps run aid into Gaza. He said it was because of Dutch measures against Israel, including the settlement ban.
Gideon Sa'ar says quote "those who act against Israel will have no foothold in the region".
Tom Berendsen called that expulsion unnecessary. He said it wouldn't change the Dutch decision on the settlement ban.
Israel has not responded to this specific coalition announcement.
And Sjoerdsma still draws a line between Israel's people and its government. The Dutch are great friends with the Israeli population, he said, and care about their security, but have major problems with their government.
So what don't we know? Whether other countries will formally join this coalition. Whether Israel will actually grant permission for the evacuations. How many children will really get out. And whether the EU will ever agree to freeze its trade deal with Israel.
Right now, the Netherlands has the money, the ban and the minister's words. What it doesn't have yet is Israel's answer.
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