THE HAGUE, Netherlands – The Dutch government has been thrown into disarray after Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp resigned, citing his cabinet’s failure to back new sanctions against Israel. The resignation, announced late Friday, has triggered a political crisis, with all ministers from his New Social Contract (NSC) party quitting in a show of solidarity.
Veldkamp, a former ambassador to Israel, had been pushing for stronger measures in response to the escalating humanitarian crisis in Gaza. However, his efforts were met with a deadlock from his coalition partners within the caretaker government, which has been in place since a previous coalition collapsed in June.
In a statement, Veldkamp explained that he felt “insufficiently able to take meaningful additional measures” and could no longer “chart the course I deem necessary.” Earlier on Friday, a UN-backed body officially declared that famine had taken hold in Gaza City, a development described by the UN Secretary-General as a “man-made disaster.” The crisis leaves the Netherlands rudderless on a critical foreign policy issue and its political future uncertain.