The conflict in the Gaza strip dominates this week´s news in the Netherlands. Prime minister Mark Rutte repeated the Dutch government´s support for Israel and stressed it must stay within the boundaries of international laws and proportionality, but a similar statement by Frans Timmermans caused the first friction between the new alliance of two left-wing parties he's leading in the November general election. An attempt to iron out the differences at the joint party conference on Saturday couldn't prevent a GroenLinks MP to withdraw from the candidate list. Meanwhile, several protests were held in a number of cities in support of Israel as well as Palestine, both on land and in the air. We take a first look at the fresh results of a survey in which DutchNews's readers were asked who they would vote for and what their main concerns are -- spoiler: Vincent van Gogh Pokémon cards is one of them. Energy minister Rob Jetten is investing billions to improve the Dutch electricity grid, the Tweede Kamer wants to throw the surcharge on disposable plastics in the trash and Joran van der Sloot finally admitted he murdered American teenager Natalee Holloway on the island of Aruba in 2005. The Dutch cricket team sensationally beat South Africa at the world tournament in Dharamsala with the help of mysterious hats and oars and Ajax is finally appreciating it's women's team which has absolutely nothing to do with the dreadful state of its men's team.
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