A Dutch Palestinian asks a Dutch court to hear a case involving the bombing of Gaza

A Dutch Palestinian asks a Dutch court to hear a case involving the bombing of Gaza

A Dutch court heard on Tuesday a request to hear a case involving Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip in 2014, in which two people, including Israeli prime minister candidate Benny Gantz, are charged.

Dutch citizen of Palestinian origin Ismail Ziadeh called on the court to continue a war crimes trial in an effort to seek justice for relatives killed in an Israeli air strike.

The initial hearing, aimed at determining whether the court will hear the case, began as Israelis headed to the polls to choose a new government that Gantz could lead.

Gantz, 60, was Israel´s chief of staff at the time of the 2014 bombing campaign in which Ziadeh said six of his relatives were killed.

The second defendant is former air force commander Amir Eshel, 60.

"I demand justice," Ziadeh told judges at the Hague District Court, saying he would not get a fair verdict from an Israeli court because it "discriminates against Palestinians seeking accountability for war crimes."

Ziada´s mother, three of his brothers, his brother-in-law, nephew and friend were killed in the strike on the Bureij refugee camp in Gaza on July 20, 2014.

Israel said it had launched a bombing campaign against Gaza to stop rocket fire from Gaza into its citizens and destroy tunnels used to smuggle weapons and militants.

"Because my Palestinian client does not guarantee a neutral and independent judge, it is impossible to bring his case anywhere else," Elizabeth Ziegfeld, Ziadah´s lawyer, told the court.

During an emotionally charged argument, Ziadeh showed pictures of his dead relatives and told judges that "a lot depends on the results of this judicial process," saying it was a legal battle "between good and evil."

His lawyer said the case could be heard under Dutch law, which says he has "universal jurisdiction" in civil cases for citizens unable to obtain justice for war crimes elsewhere.

But attorneys representing Gants and Eichel, who did not attend the trial, said that "the Dutch court does not have the authority to rule on Israeli military actions, just as an Israeli court does not have the authority to rule on Dutch army actions in Afghanistan, Iraq and the former Yugoslavia," according to lawyer Thom Dippin.

Another lawyer, Kathleen van der Blas, said: "There is no compelling reason why the plaintiff should not bring the case before Israeli courts."

"It is an issue that has nothing to do with the Netherlands, and is based on a situation that has occurred thousands of kilometers away, and is related to the sovereign military intervention of the State of Israel in the context of an authorized military operation."

"The only possible conclusion here is that your court does not have the jurisdiction to hear this case."

Judges are expected to rule in the next two months.

The 2014 Israeli bombing campaign in Gaza killed 2,251 people, mostly civilians, and 74 Israelis, most of them soldiers.