Alwaght- Israeli regime's recent raid on and shutting of the offices of many Palestinian human rights organizations in Occupied West Bank has triggered international condemnation.
Foreign ministries of nine European countries said on Friday "We are deeply concerned by the raids which took place in the morning of 18 August, as part of a worrying reduction of space for civil society" across the territory.
"These actions are not acceptable," Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and Sweden said in a statement.
International organizations also in unanimous voice denounced the regime’s military raids on the offices of Palestinian human rights and civil society organizations in Ramallah.
Farhan Haq, a deputy spokesman for the UN secretary-general, said the world body was “studying” the Israeli raids and that it had expressed concern last year after Israel’s designation of the groups as terror organizations.
“It needs to be underscored, in every country, that the authorities need to take particular care to make sure that human rights groups and civil society organizations can go about their work without hindrance,” Haq noted
The UN spokesperson further said that the international body would look at charges that prompted the Israeli actions against the Palestinian groups.
“Those are actions that cannot be taken lightly, so it would take quite a bit to convince us of what was at issue,” Haq said. “It remains to be seen what the details are behind these charges.”
“The main thing that needs to be done is to make sure that there’s no targeting of groups for their human rights work,” he said.
The UN Human Rights Office also said the closures “appear totally arbitrary,” and that Israel had provided no evidence to support claims the organizations conducted unlawful activities.
“Human rights defenders must be immediately protected from these unjustified attacks,” the office said.
The reactions came a day after Israeli forces stormed, searched, and sealed the headquarters of seven human rights organizations in Ramallah and the outskirts town of al-Bireh, marking a major escalation against the advocacy groups.
The organizations raided by the occupation forces include Al-Haq, Addameer, the Bisan Center for Research & Development, Defense for Children International Palestine, the Union of Agricultural Work Committees, the Union of Health Work Committees, and the Union of Palestinian Women.
At least six of the organizations had been labeled as “terrorist” groups by the Israeli regime last October for their alleged links to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) umbrella group.
The NGOs have all denied any association with the PFLP. Nor have the Israeli officials provided any evidence of the alleged links.
The European countries likewise called Israel’s allegations against the NGOs unsubstantiated.
Earlier, the Ramallah-headquartered Palestinian Authority’s foreign ministry described the raid as unlawful.
It said Israeli forces looted documents and seized equipment before closing the NGOs’ offices.
The ministry warned that civil society and human rights groups remained the prime target of the regime because they documented its crimes against Palestinians.
UN agencies, AIDA urge continuation of work by Palestinian rights organizations
In a statement on Thursday, the United Nations agencies and the Association of International Development Agencies (AIDA) working in the occupied Palestinian territories called on the Israeli regime to allow Palestinian human rights and humanitarian organizations to continue their work.
The UN agencies and AIDA said the attempted closures of these organization offices represent the latest in a series of actions by Israel that limit the ability of human rights, humanitarian, and development work in the occupied territories and affect all institutions working to promote human rights and development.
“We urge…Israel to refrain from any action that would prevent these organizations from continuing their critical human rights, humanitarian and development work in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,” the statement said.
The UN agencies and AIDA stressed that the Israeli authorities had provided no compelling evidence to justify the “terrorist” designations of the Palestinian organizations.
AI urges end to silencing Palestinian civil society organizations
In a press statement cited by Palestine's official Wafa news agency on Thursday, Amnesty International called for an end to the stifling of Palestinian civil society organizations at the hands of Israeli occupation authorities.
“The Israeli occupation authorities must end their campaign of repression against Palestinian civil society and let organizations carry out their work free from harassment,” said Amna Guellali, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa.
“These organizations have contributed enormously to human rights in the OPT and across the globe, yet Israeli army boots trample all over their work," Guellali added, urging all governments to condemn the Israeli army’s attack on Palestinian civil society.
She said the international community "needs to work together not only to reopen the offices of these seven organizations, but also to honor their calls to support the International Criminal Court’s investigation into the Palestine situation and for international condemnation of Israel’s apartheid against Palestinians.”
Amnesty International also said it had spoken to partners at three of the seven raided organizations, which conveyed their shock at the attacks and closures.
“The occupying army has failed to silence our voice in defense of human rights. The army uses military law against human rights law," Khaled Quzmar, director of DCI-Palestine, was quoted as saying by Amnesty International.
"The raids show that Israel rejects the position of the EU and the international community, and rather invests in continuing the occupation and the human rights violations that it causes."
