The decision by Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to allow a minimal amount of food aid into Gaza is “flawed and insufficient”, Dutch foreign minister Caspar Veldkamp said on Monday.

Veldkamp said on social media that the “catastrophic situation in Gaza requires immediate mass humanitarian aid to end starvation and human suffering”. He also repeated calls for a ceasefire and the release of the remaining hostages.

On Sunday, Netanyahu announced an end to the 2.5-month blockade on aid, saying a “basic amount of food” would be allowed in, though he did not specify what that entailed. He said the move was partly due to “pressure from our allies”, who, he claimed, had raised concerns about “images of starvation”.

On Sunday, an estimated 100,000 people marched through the centre of The Hague calling on the Dutch government to adopt a tougher stance on Israel. It was the biggest demonstration in the Netherlands in 20 years.

Opposition MPs on Monday criticised prime minister Dick Schoof for failing to respond to the protest. “It is unheard of for a prime minister not to comment on such a massive demonstration,” said Socialist MP Sarah Dobbe.

Schoof was in Italy at the time to attend the inauguration of the new pope. A spokesman for the prime minister told broadcaster RTL that he spoke “very briefly” with Israeli president Isaac Herzog during the event, raising concerns about the humanitarian situation in Gaza.

D66 leader Rob Jetten, who joined the march, criticised the VVD and NSC for following the pro-Israel position of far-right PVV leader Geert Wilders. “There is no real will [from the coalition] to increase the pressure on Israel,” Jetten said.

“The cabinet should finally start taking action,” he said. “Stop the trade advantages with Israel and stop delivering the weapons that are killing innocent Palestinians.”

Parliament is due to vote on a number of motions on Tuesday calling for sanctions and other measures against Israel, but they are unlikely to pass given the cabinet’s position.

EU treaty

Earlier this month Veldkamp accused Israel of breaching human rights laws with its plan to permanently occupy the Gaza region.

He wrote in a letter to the European Union’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, that Israel’s blockade of Gaza breached the terms of its free trade agreement with the EU and called for a review.

Support for Israel’s attacks on Gaza is falling in the Netherlands, with two-thirds of people now describing the most recent bombing as “out of all proportion” and 77% condemning the aid blockade, according to the latest RTL opinion poll.