Thank you Mr. President,

The Kingdom of the Netherlands aligns itself with the EU statement and thanks the Commission of Inquiry for the presentation of its report.

Acknowledging the mandate of the Commission as a formal decision of this Council, my delegation has carefully considered the report’s findings.

However, we remain concerned about the open-ended nature of the CoI’s mandate and the absence of a sunset clause. As a consequence, we consider the establishment of the CoI to be a further demonstration of disproportionate attention given to Israel. A bias that must stop. We maintain that the Commission’s mandate should be subject to periodical review with the option to terminate it, as is the case for all other Commissions of Inquiry.

Mr. President,

The Netherlands is worried about the recent developments on the ground. We are strongly concerned by the violence in Jenin and the loss of civilian lives. Furthermore, the Netherlands calls upon Israel not to proceed with the plans to change the settlements’ planning and administration process and for settlement expansion. These illegal unilateral steps risk further escalating an already tense situation and form an obstacle to peace.