In 2014, the Netherlands joined the international coalition against ISIS, which was formed after the rapid advance of the terrorist organisation in Iraq and Syria. This support included air support, training local troops and humanitarian aid.
October 2014
Inherent Resolve
Following the example of the US, the Netherlands is deploying F-16s in the military mission to defeat and expel Islamic State from Iraq and Syria (‘Operation Inherent Resolve’).
2-3 June 2015
The bombardement
Dutch F-16s carry out a military operation above Hawija. An air strike on an IS bomb factory causes a secondary explosion that causes immense damage, immediately observed by the pilots and reported with a suspicion of ‘collateral damage’. That same morning, on 3 June, the Ministry of Defence in The Hague is informed that it is likely that civilian casualties have been caused by a Dutch military operation.
15 June 2015
Minister informed
The then Minister of Defence, Hennis-Plasschaert, receives a report from U.S. Central Command on the air strike on Hawija, which states that it is ‘credible’ that the operation caused up to 74 deaths. The House of Representatives is not informed.
18 October 2019
Dozens of deaths reported
In an extensive report, NOS and NRC reveal the Dutch responsibility for (civilian) casualties and immense damage.
4 November 2019
New policies
The Ministry of Defence acknowledges the facts in the report and announces that it will develop a new policy aimed at increasing transparency regarding civilian casualties caused (or possibly caused) by Dutch military operations. This policy will be introduced in June 2020. The Netherlands also acknowledges its responsibility for another operation in Mosul, Iraq, in which four civilians were killed. One of the few survivors, Basim Razzo, will later receive compensation from the Dutch government for this.
2020
roadmap for improved civil victim policy
In response to ‘Hawija’, discussions are underway between the Ministry of Defence and a consortium of civil society organisations and academics. The main objective of this ‘roadmap’ is to improve civilian casualty policy. PAX is part of this consortium and will lead it until mid-2025.
2 October 2020
Sorgdrager Committee
Under pressure from the House of Representatives, the Ministry of Defence has set up an independent commission headed by Winnie Sorgdrager. This commission has been tasked with investigating how civilian casualties could have occurred during the use of weapons in Hawija and what lessons can be learned for the future.
Following a parliamentary motion, the Ministry of Defence also announces that it will investigate possibilities to compensate the affected community in Hawija on a voluntary basis. PAX advocates individual compensation, which is repeatedly rejected by the Ministry of Defence.
26 October 2020
Seeing through the rubble
PAX and monitoring organisation Airwars publish the report Seeing through the rubble, which denounces the disproportionate impact of explosive weapons in populated areas on civilians. Hawija is one of the cases.
1 July 2021
PAX recommendations
Following an initial series of discussions with the Ministry of Defence, PAX and other civil society partners are publishing recommendations for improving the Ministry of Defence’s policy on civilian casualties.
7 April 2022
Step-by-step plan for civilian victims
The Ministry of Defence announces the ‘roadmap for civilian casualties’, in which it adopts a number of recommendations from the consortium and introduces various measures aimed primarily at increasing transparency regarding (potential) civilian casualties.
8 April 2022
After the Strike
PAX, the Iraqi NGO Al-Ghad League and Utrecht University’s Intimacies of Remote Warfare programme publish a comprehensive study into the direct and indirect negative consequences of the Dutch air strike on Hawija: the After the Strike report. More than 100 survivors and relatives were interviewed for this study.
18 November 2022
Political declaration signed
The Netherlands, along with 82 other states, signs the Political Declaration to better protect civilians from the humanitarian impact of explosive weapons in populated areas.
30 March 2023
Mosul
In a new publication, the NOS, NRC and Nieuwsuur link the Netherlands to an incident in Mosul in 2016, in which seven civilians are said to have been killed. The Ministry of Defence announces an investigation. The results of this investigation are not yet known.
24 October 2023
Court case
The first hearing takes place in the lawsuit brought by 25 survivors and relatives of victims of the air strike on Hawija, led by lawyer Liesbeth Zegveld, against the Dutch state. This lawsuit is ongoing.
18 December 2023
Civilian Casualty Portal
The Ministry of Defence announces that in future it wants to make it easier for civilians and NGOs to report information about civilian suffering that may have been caused by Dutch military action, and therefore announces the development of a so-called ‘civilian victim portal’; something that PAX and its consortium partners have long advocated and which PAX has previously researched.
23 May 2024
New recommendations
PAX and a number of consortium partners publish a new set of recommendations for the Ministry of Defence regarding their civilian casualty policy, based on a second series of substantive discussions and sessions in the preceding months.
13 June 2024
Investigating options for medical assistance
The Ministry of Defence sends information to Parliament, stating, among other things, its intention to investigate possibilities for medical assistance for children who were victims of the air strike in 2015. To date, the Ministry of Defence has not shared any updates on progress in this regard.
27 January 2025
Too little, too late
After years of investigation, the Sorgdrager Committee publishes its findings. The report is highly critical of the Dutch government’s failure to inform the House of Representatives in a timely, adequate and careful manner about the suspected civilian casualties. It also states that the projects carried out by the Netherlands in Hawija were ‘too little, too late’.
14 March 2025
Apologies
The Minister of Defence shares his detailed response to the report with the House of Representatives. In it, he apologises for informing the House too late and carelessly, as well as to the survivors and relatives of the air strike itself. The Ministry of Defence also announces a number of new steps to further shape its policy on civilian casualties.
7 April 2025
Nothing concrete
PAX and the Iraqi non-governmental organisation Ashor Foundation have published a critical study of the voluntary compensation projects carried out by the Netherlands in Hawija. These projects appear to have yielded little or nothing concrete for the victims and are unanimously rejected as a meaningful form of compensation or redress.
15 May 2025
More apologies
In a debate with the House of Representatives, Defence Minister Brekelmans announces his intention to travel to Hawija to apologise in person for the consequences of the Dutch military operation.
In addition, the Netherlands wants to explore further options for community-level projects, despite clear signals from Hawija and PAX that individual compensation would be most effective and appropriate.
