© ANPDutch foreign minister Frans Timmermans
In an opinion piece in the NRC on Tuesday, Timmermans calls for an independent inquiry into the bombardment of UN schools and a hospital.
He writes that the Israeli bombardment and the Hamas rockets 'only increase the hate, the fear and the hopelessness'.
However, he does not point the finger of blame, saying that only once the fighting stops can the underlying reasons for the violence be dealt with.
Polarisation
He does warn for polarisation in the Netherlands. 'This is not a fight between Jews and Muslims. Anyone who turns it into one not only falls into a trap set by radicals, but removes our chance to be a positive influence in the region,' he writes.
Israel began its offensive in Gaza four weeks ago. There is currently a cease-fire in operation.
Comment: It seems that recent protests in the Netherlands, during which protesters asked Timmermans to 'stop the apartheid', and a petition (of 40,000 signatures) that called on the Dutch government to impose sanctions on Israel (which was personally handed over to Timmermans five days ago), may have contributed to Timmermans finally speaking out against the violence committed by Israel. It remains to be seen however whether Timmermans, or the Dutch government, will take any action against Israel. Currently this seems unlikely as the Netherlands seems to be more involved with banning protests, and supporting the West's agenda in Iraq.