The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has urged Netherlands residents currently in and around Iran to contact their loved ones and let them know they’re safe. This follows after Israel committed several air strikes on Iran overnight.
“Keep a close eye on the news and follow the instructions of local authorities,” the Ministry told Dutch people in the region. Those who need help can contact their travel organization, travel insurer, or the Ministry’s Nederland Wereldwijd contact center.
Israel targeted Iran’s nuclear facilities and the country’s military top, claiming the attack was needed to prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear power, NOS reported. General Hossein Salami, the commander-in-chief of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, was among those killed in the attacks. Chief of Staff Mohammad Bagheri was also killed, as were two senior general scientists and two leading nuclear scientists.
The UN nuclear agency, IAEA, confirmed that a crucial part of Iran’s nuclear program, the underground atomic complex in Natanz, was attacked. It is not clear how much damage the complex suffered.
Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, confirmed the death of the military officers and scientists, but stressed that their successor will “immediately take over their duties.” In a written message addressed to his country, he wrote that the Israeli “regime” can expect a “severe punishment” and that Israel has brought itself a “bitter and painful fate” with “this crime.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the attacks on Iran a “defining moment” in Israel’s history. He called this a successful “opening attack” and said that the attacks will last several days.
Israel still attacking Gaza
In the meantime, Israel is still waging war on the Gaza Strip. As of June 9, Israel has killed at least 55,104 people, including 17,400 children, and injured at least 127,394 people with attacks on the Palestinian territory, Al Jazeera reported based on the latest figures from the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
After months of not allowing any aid into the coastal strip, Israel has now allowed a small amount of food and other basic necessities to enter Gaza. According to the United Nations, the remaining population of the Gaza Strip, already severely traumatized by the ongoing attacks and unable to flee due to closed borders, is now also facing starvation. Senior UN officials have described the aid that has entered as merely “a trickle” or “a drop in the ocean” of what the people need.
Protests against Israel’s ongoing war have broken out worldwide. Over the weekend, the protest ship Madleen, carrying activists, including Dutch captain Mark van Rennes, and a small amount of aid to Gaza, was captured and detained by Israel. Several of the activists, including Greta Thunberg, have since been deported back to their home countries. Van Rennes was set to return to Schiphol on Friday.
About a hundred Dutch also participated in a mass march on Gaza, to try and break Israel’s siege. Egypt detained about 200 protesters from the Global March to Gaza, including around 30 Dutch. According to ANP, some of the Dutch activists returned to the Netherlands on Thursday.
The Dutch government has been hesitant to take firm action against Israel. In a parliamentary debate on Thursday, caretaker Prime Minister Dick Schoof said the Nehterlands might be open to advocating for sanctions against two far-right Israeli Ministers after Canada, Norway, Australia, and New Zealand imposed sanctions against the two, NOS reported. The countries accused Ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir of National Security and Bezalel Smotrich of Finance of inciting extremist violence and violating Palestinian human rights.
Caretaker Minister Caspar Veldkamp of Foreign Affairs was more reluctant, saying that the European Council of Foreign Affairs must first discuss the topic and that a clear Dutch preference for sanctions will “sow division within the EU.”