Dutch court to rule on Palestinian’s case against Zionist Defence Minister

An appeals court in the Netherlands is expected to rule on Tuesday in a case alleging war crimes against Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz.

Ismail Ziada filed the civil case against Gantz and another former senior Israeli military official, seeking unspecified damages under Dutch universal jurisdiction rules. His case was thrown out by a lower Dutch court in January 2020.

Universal jurisdiction allows countries to prosecute serious offences such as war crimes and torture no matter where they were committed.

But the lower court ruled that the principles of universal jurisdiction could be applied for individual criminal responsibility, but not in civil cases.

Ziada appealed, arguing that universal jurisdiction should be applied in civil cases if the alleged conduct involved serious violations of international humanitarian law.

He asked the appeals judges to reverse the decision, which effectively granted Gantz immunity from prosecution.

E.M