NGOs plan to sue Denmark to halt its weapons exports to Israel
Amnesty International Denmark, Oxfam Denmark and other groups say they will file suit in coming weeks, while Copenhagen says its sales are ‘completely within the lines’
COPENHAGEN — A group of NGOs said on Tuesday that 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 in Gaza.
Amnesty International Denmark, Oxfam Denmark, ActionAid Denmark and Palestinian human rights organization Al-Haq said in a joint statement they would bring the case against the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the National Police, which approves Danish sales of weapons and military equipment.
“We feel that we are completely within the lines, the rules of the game that apply,” Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen told reporters in response.
The National Police declined immediate comment without having seen details of the lawsuit.
Legal firm Kontra Advokater, which will be representing the NGOs, said it would file the lawsuit to a Copenhagen district court within the next three weeks.
“For five months we have been talking about a potential genocide in Gaza, but we have not seen politicians take action,” said Tim Whyte, secretary-general of ActionAid Denmark.
Israel launched its offensive against Hamas in Gaza following the terror group’s murderous onslaught across southern Israel on October 7, in which close to 1,200 people were killed and another 253 were kidnapped — more than 100 of whom are still being held in Gaza.
In the ensuing war, which Israel says is aimed at toppling Hamas, preventing it from being able to carry out further attacks, and returning the hostages, more than 31,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to unverified figures provided by the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry.
The figure includes some 13,000 Hamas terrorists Israel says it has killed in battle, as well as those slain by malfunctioning rocket launches from within Gaza.
Israel has said it is doing all it can to limit civilian casualties, including precision strikes and warning populations to leave areas of heavy fighting, and blames Hamas for fighting in densely populated areas and operating out of civilian infrastructure, including hospitals.
Close to 250 IDF soldiers have been killed fighting in Gaza since the start of the military’s ground operation in the Strip.
A Dutch court in February 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.
