Huge turnout at a second Dutch protest seeking government action against Israel

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Tens of thousands of demonstrators in the Netherlands donned red clothing and marched Sunday to protest the Dutch government’s policy toward Israel, exceeding the turnout for a similar event in May.

Protesters walked a 3-mile (5-kilometer) loop around the center of The Hague to symbolically create the red line they say the government has failed to draw to halt Israel’s campaign in Gaza.

“I don’t want to be complicit in these horrendous crimes happening there and I want to speak out,” protester Marin Koning told The Associated Press.

The human rights groups and aid agencies — including Amnesty International, Save the Children and Doctors Without Borders — that organized the march estimated the peaceful crowd at more than 150,000 people. Local media put the numbers closer to 100,000.

In neighboring Belgium, around 75,000 people, many of them also clad in red, hit the streets in the capital Brussels, police said. Several rallies have been held to draw attention to Israel's actions in Gaza, but Sunday's was the biggest rally so far.

The Dutch protest sent a “clear signal,” according to Marjon Rozema of Amnesty International Netherlands. Dutch officials must “act now, at both the national and international level, to increase the pressure on the Israeli government,” she said in a statement.

As during the first Red Line protest in May, the march took the crowds past the Peace Palace, headquarters of the United Nations’ International Court of Justice, where last year judges ordered Israel to do all it can to prevent death, destruction and any acts of genocide in Gaza.

Israel strongly denies that it is violating international law in Gaza.

The event takes place weeks after the country’s ruling four-party coalition collapsed, leaving the Netherlands with a caretaker government when it hosts a summit of NATO leaders at the end of June.

Hamas started the war with its Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel, with militants killing around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking another 251 hostage. The militants still hold 53 hostages, fewer than half of them alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefire agreements or other deals.

Israel’s military campaign has killed over 55,300 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. It says women and children make up most of the dead but doesn’t distinguish between civilians and combatants. Israel says it has killed more than 20,000 militants, without providing evidence.

The European Union’s top diplomat, meanwhile, convened an emergency meeting of the 27-nation bloc’s foreign ministers on Tuesday to discuss the conflict between Israel and Iran.

The meeting, to be held via video link, “will provide an opportunity for an exchange of views, coordination on diplomatic outreach to Tel Aviv and Tehran, and possible next steps.” EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas’s office said Sunday.

“We will continue to contribute to all diplomatic efforts to reduce tensions and to find a lasting solution to the Iranian nuclear issue which can only be through a negotiated deal,” it said.

Lorne Cook in Brussels contributed to this report.

Follow AP’s war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war

Two women draped in Palestinian flags used the Peace Palace tram stop sign to take images of tens of thousands of red-clad protesters marched demanding their government do more to halt Israel's campaign in Gaza, during a demonstration in The Hague, Netherlands, Sunday, June 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

Red-clad protesters march demanding their government do more to halt Israel's campaign in Gaza, during a demonstration in The Hague, Netherlands, Sunday, June 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

Tens of thousands of red-clad protesters march demanding their government do more to halt Israel's campaign in Gaza, during a demonstration in The Hague, Netherlands, Sunday, June 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

Tens of thousands of red-clad protesters march demanding their government do more to halt Israel's campaign in Gaza, during a demonstration in The Hague, Netherlands, Sunday, June 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

Tens of thousands of red-clad protesters marched past the Peace Palace, housing the International Court of Justice, rear, demanding their government do more to halt Israel's campaign in Gaza, during a demonstration in The Hague, Netherlands, Sunday, June 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — An ailing astronaut returned to Earth with three others on Thursday, ending their space station mission more than a month early in NASA’s first medical evacuation.

SpaceX guided the capsule to a middle-of-the-night splashdown in the Pacific near San Diego, less than 11 hours after the astronauts exited the International Space Station.

“It’s so good to be home,” said NASA astronaut Zena Cardman, the capsule commander.

It was an unexpected finish to a mission that began in August and left the orbiting lab with only one American and two Russians on board. NASA and SpaceX said they would try to move up the launch of a fresh crew of four; liftoff is currently targeted for mid-February.

Cardman and NASA’s Mike Fincke were joined on the return by Japan’s Kimiya Yui and Russia’s Oleg Platonov. Officials have refused to identify the astronaut who had the health problem or explain what happened, citing medical privacy.

While the astronaut was stable in orbit, NASA wanted them back on Earth as soon as possible to receive proper care and diagnostic testing. The entry and splashdown required no special changes or accommodations, officials said, and the recovery ship had its usual allotment of medical experts on board. It was not immediately known when the astronauts would fly from California to their home base in Houston. Platonov’s return to Moscow was also unclear.

NASA stressed repeatedly over the past week that this was not an emergency. The astronaut fell sick or was injured on Jan. 7, prompting NASA to call off the next day’s spacewalk by Cardman and Fincke, and ultimately resulting in the early return. It was the first time NASA cut short a spaceflight for medical reasons. The Russians had done so decades ago.

The space station has gotten by with three astronauts before, sometimes even with just two. NASA said it will be unable to perform a spacewalk, even for an emergency, until the arrival of the next crew, which has two Americans, one French and one Russian astronaut.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

This screengrab from video provided by NASA TV shows the SpaceX Dragon departing from the International Space Station shortly after undocking with four NASA Crew-11 members inside on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (NASA via AP)

This photo provided by NASA shows clockwise from bottom left are, NASA astronaut Mike Fincke, Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov, NASA astronaut Zena Cardman, and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Kimiya Yui gathering for a crew portrait wearing their Dragon pressure suits during a suit verification check inside the International Space Station’s Kibo laboratory module, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (NASA via AP)

This screengrab from video provided by NASA shows recovery vessels approaching the NASA's SpaceX Crew-11 capsule to evacuate one of the crew members after they re-entered the earth in a middle-of-the-night splashdown near San Diego, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (NASA via AP)

This screengrab from video provided by NASA shows the NASA's SpaceX Crew-11 members re entering the earth in a middle-of-the-night splashdown near San Diego, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (NASA via AP)

This screengrab from video provided by NASA shows the NASA's SpaceX Crew-11 members re entering the earth in a middle-of-the-night splashdown near San Diego, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (NASA via AP)