On Tuesday afternoon parliament will hold its first debate on the support the Netherlands has given to various rebel groups in Syria, including some which are said to be ‘terrorist’.

At least one of the groups has been branded a terrorist movement by the Dutch public prosecution service, which is currently involved in a court case against one of its members.

Last month Nieuwsuur and Trouw said in a string of exposes that the Netherlands provided uniforms and pick-up trucks to the group known as Jabbat al-Shamiya in 2017 and had also helped a group known as Sultan Murad Brigade which had used child soldiers.

The equipment was sent to the group as part of a secret programme providing ‘non-lethal’ assistance to 22 rebel groups in Syria from 2015 to the beginning of this year.

The Netherlands has admitted funding Syrian rebel groups but has always maintained they were moderate, while refusing to give further details.

Website Nu.nl says the cabinet is adamant that none of the groups it has funded appears on the UN or the EU lists of terrorist organisations. And some Middle East experts also say that Jabbat al-Shamiya is not allied to IS, as the public prosecution department claims.

Nevertheless, Nu.nl says, foreign minister Stef Blok will have a lot of explaining to do during the debate, which begins at 4pm.