Belgium’s ongoing evacuation of people from the Gaza Strip has triggered a political storm after footage emerged of two young boys arriving at Ostend Airport wearing black sweatshirts printed with large images of an M16 rifle.
The pair was among 75 Palestinians evacuated at the end of October, part of a wider humanitarian operation that has brought around 850 people to Belgium since 2023.
The incident has sparked renewed debate over screening procedures for arrivals from conflict zones.
According to media reports, clothing featuring the M16 rifle—used in a number of deadly attacks against Israeli civilians—has become a widespread fashion trend in several Palestinian cities. Shops in Ramallah, Jenin, and elsewhere have reportedly been selling such items for months, with some parents buying them for their sons.
Footage of the boys arriving in Belgium has been seized upon by the right-wing, anti-immigration Vlaams Belang party.
MP Sam van Rooy raised the matter in the federal parliament on Thursday, November 13th, describing the sight of “teenagers from Gaza with a jumper displaying a large M16 machine gun” entering the country as evidence of inadequate controls.
This government is bringing in Hamas jihadists in the making.
Van Rooy argued that Belgian authorities should be carrying out far more extensive background checks.
Are the social media accounts of Palestinian refugees in our country being systematically screened for antisemitism and for pro-Hamas and other jihadist propaganda?
He stated that a vast majority of Palestinian asylum seekers in Belgium hold antisemitic or pro-Hamas views, “expressing them quite openly, on the street or on their social media.”
The minister for asylum and migration, Anneleen Van Bossuyt, rejected these accusations, insisting that current procedures are “sufficient.”
However, Vlaams Belang argues that the combination of a rising number of arrivals and lax vetting is putting public safety at risk. This year alone, Van Rooy noted, around 1,000 Palestinians have been granted refugee status in Belgium.
The foreign ministry has said that the evacuation effort is restricted to Belgian nationals, recognised refugees, and their immediate relatives, and that diplomats in Jerusalem and Amman are “working tirelessly” to complete remaining evacuations. Around 150 people are still awaiting transport out of Gaza.
In the rush to present humanitarian compassion, the Belgian government and its Western European counterparts are turning a blind eye to ideological radicalisation that has taken root in parts of Palestinian society.
The fact that Europe is increasingly importing individuals who openly sympathise with Hamas or glorify its violence is a symptom of a wider European failure to protect its own citizens.
