The Netherlands Apologizes for Involvement in Hawija Airstrike and Lays Out Further Reforms

Bombing of Hawija: The minister writes that an “internal investigation into the actions of the then detachment commander” is being launched who…

The Ministry of Defence is launching an investigation into the commander responsible for the airstrike on the Iraqi city of Hawija in 2015. Minister Brekelmans announced this in a letter to the Lower House. Last week, video footage surfaced of the destruction a day after the attack, which left 70 civilians dead. The footage had been presumed lost, but after publication in the Volkskrant about the disappearance of the video, it finally surfaced. …

The Netherlands Apologizes for Involvement in Hawija Airstrike and Lays Out Further Reforms

On March 14, 2025, the Dutch Cabinet released a comprehensive letter to parliament with detailed commitments on further strengthening its approach to civilian harm mitigation. The commitments were made in response to the late-January publication of a damning report by the Sorgdrager Commission on the Dutch airstrike in Hawija, Iraq in 2015 that killed at least 70 civilians. The Commission outlined a series of systematic errors that contributed t…

The Netherlands Bans Free Journalism

The Netherlands has changed its press directive to exclude non-accredited journalists from court hearings. Beginning on June 1, 2025, only members of ONE

Brekelmans does not want to hear soldiers under oath in Hawija case, start research into commander - World News

Minister of Defense Ruben Brekelmans (VVD) does not want to have soldiers interrogated under oath about how it is possible that the recently up -up video images of the Dutch bombing of Hawija were lost for years. Brekelmans writes that on Friday in one letter To the Lower House. He thereby rejects a recommendation from the independent committee that conducted the bombing of the bombing under the leadership of former minister Winnie Sorgdrager. O…

Defense Minister Ruben Brekelmans wants additional research into the role of the so-called detachment commander who was responsible for the airstrike on Hawija. In 2015, 70 Iraqi civilians were unintentionally killed here.