Israeli forces' raids of Palestinian nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) on Thursday, which the state has designated "terrorist organizations,” caused a diplomatic backlash and drew condemnations from the United Nations and European Union as well as the United States.
"Despite offers to review the accusations to determine if funds have been diverted, Israeli authorities have not given any compelling evidence to U.N. agencies nor NGO partners working in the OPT to support these designations," the U.N. said, referring to the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
It added that the "the breadth of the Israeli 2016 Anti-Terrorism legislation and its impact on the presumption of innocence present serious concerns under international law."
At the time of the Israeli designation of the NGOs as terrorist entities, U.N. human rights experts found it "disturbing."
"Israel’s disturbing designation of these organizations as ‘terrorist organizations’ has not been accompanied by any public concrete and credible evidence,” said a statement attributed to human rights experts under the auspices of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.
The Office of the EU Representative to Palestine announced that the allegations that Palestinian NGOs Israel says misused funds of the union are "unproven" and that they will continue to support Palestinian NGOs.
Several human rights organizations including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have also condemned Israel's raids.
The Israeli army stormed and ordered the closure of seven Palestinian NGOs in the West Bank cities of Ramallah and Al-Bireh, witnesses said.
The EU last week decided to unfreeze funds allocated to six of the Palestinian NGOs, but despite the vote, the European Commission did not announce that the funds would be unfrozen.
U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price told reporters on Thursday that Washington was "concerned" about the closures and had "conveyed the message that there must be a very high bar to take action against civil society organizations."
The NGOs that were raided were the Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, the Al-Haq Center, the Bisan Center for Research and Development, the Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees, the Union of Health Work Committees, the Union of Agricultural Work Committees and Defense for Children International - Palestine.
Last year, Israeli authorities decided to close six of these NGOs, claiming that they were "terrorist organizations."
Clashes also erupted between dozens of Palestinians and the Israeli army during the raids, with the latter using live and rubber-coated metal bullets and tear gas canisters.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said in a statement that its crews dealt with one injury from live ammunition and treated 33 others who were affected by tear gas.
On Oct. 19, 2021, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz issued an order to close six NGOs on the grounds that they are "terrorist organizations" and are affiliated with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
