Tens of thousands of people protest in The Hague demanding that the Dutch government take action against the war in Gaza

Tens of thousands of protesters marched through The Hague on Sunday to demand action from the government to stop Israel's campaign in Gaza.

According to foreign media, the organizers called it the country's largest demonstration in two decades.

Human rights groups and aid agencies – including Amnesty International, Save the Children and Doctors Without Borders – estimated the peaceful crowd at more than 100,000 people.

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The streets of the Dutch political capital were filled with the elderly, the young and even a few babies in their first protest.

Nearly 100,000 people, wearing red to symbolize a call for a moral boundary, marched in The Hague under the slogan "Draw a Red Line for Gaza" to protest the Dutch government's continued support for Israel's war on Gaza, in what organizers say was the Netherlands' largest protest... pic.twitter.com/9Ll8htfqv0

- TRT World (@trtworld) May 18, 2025

"We hope this is a wake-up call for the government," said teacher Roos Lingbeek, taking part in the march with her husband and their 12-week-old daughter, Dido, who slept in a carrier while her parents waved a sign that simply read: "STOP."

The march passed by the Peace Palace, the headquarters of the United Nations International Court of Justice, where last year judges ordered Israel to do everything it could to prevent death, destruction and any acts of genocide in Gaza.

Protesters walked a 5-kilometer loop around the city center of The Hague, to symbolically create the red line they say the government has failed to establish.

"We are calling on the Dutch government: to stop political, economic and military support for Israel as long as it blocks access to aid supplies and is guilty of genocide, war crimes and structural human rights violations in Gaza and the Occupied Palestinian Territories," said Marjon Rozema of Amnesty International.

Dutch policy toward Israel is just one of many issues causing divisions in the Netherlands' fragile coalition government.

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Far-right leader Geert Wilders is strongly pro-Israel and his anti-immigrant Party for Freedom holds the largest number of seats in the country's parliament.

In a post on X, Wilders accused the protesters of supporting Hamas, calling them "confused."

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However, last week, Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp of the center-right VVD party urged the European Union to review a trade agreement with Israel, arguing that blocking humanitarian aid violated international law.

Wilders reacted, denouncing the call as an "insult to cabinet policy." /Telegraph/