Tens of thousands of people, many of them dressed in red, marched through Amsterdam on Sunday (November 8, 2026) in a mass demonstration aimed at pressing the Dutch government to take more decisive action against Israel over Gaza.
The Dutch branch of Amnesty International, one of the organisers, said in an online post that more than 200,000 people joined the march.
The organisers of the “Red Line” demonstrations in the Netherlands called for measures including stricter trade sanctions on Israel, officially declaring that Israel’s actions in Gaza amount to genocide, and halting all arms sales to Israel.
Since then, a new minority coalition government has taken power and introduced an import ban on products from Israeli settlements, which the Dutch government and most of the international community consider illegal, a move that provoked a diplomatic spat with Israel. He was critical of the Dutch government’s actions. “They don’t dare take any serious steps. Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and destroyed much of Gaza. The campaign in Gaza has strained relations between the Netherlands and Israel.
More than 1,550 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed by the Israeli military since a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas began in October 2025, according to the territory’s Health Ministry. Prime Minister Rob Jetten, who took part in a march last year but was not present on Sunday, defended his government’s actions at his weekly press conference on Friday (November 6, 2026).
“What is happening there is inhumane,” said Mike van Dongen, as he walked in the huge throng. “As far as I’m concerned, they are doing nothing,” he said. The ministry, part of the Hamas-run government, does not distinguish between civilians and militants, though it says women and children make up roughly half of the dead. “Every single day and every single week, we do what we can to alleviate the terrible situation there,” he said. He added that his administration was “exerting greater political and diplomatic pressure” on Israel to abide by its agreements on Gaza. At the same time, he said, the government was applying more pressure on Hamas and other organisations that continue to carry out “various operations that endanger the safety of ordinary Israelis.”
The Dutch Foreign Minister resigned last year after failing to secure new sanctions against Israel.
