In the early hours of Thursday, the Israeli military shut down seven organizations. The crackdown took place in downtown Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank. However, it cannot justify its claims.
In the early hours of Thursday, the Israeli military shut down seven organizations. The crackdown took place in downtown Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank. The soldiers raided the offices of the group Al-Haq around 3:00. The Israeli authorities accuse these organizations of having ties to militant and groups of terrorists.
Israel targets humanitarian groups
In a raid that Washington is calling “concerning”, the Israeli military stormed the offices of seven non-governmental organizations. The soldiers ransacked their offices, seized their documents, and computers and wielded their doors shut with metal.
Israeli authorities allege that the NGOs were acting as a militant front of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). They consider the PFLP an organization of terrorists.
The organizations were the Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, the Al-Haq rights group, the Union of Palestinian Women Committees (UPWC), the Union of Agricultural Work Committees (UAWC), the Bisan Center for Research and Development, and the Defence for Children International. Only last in October, they declared these organizations illegal.
“This morning, Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) raided Al-Haq’s office in Ramallah, confiscated items and shut down the main entrance with an iron plate leaving behind a military order declaring the organization unlawful”, Al-Haq said on Twitter.
Al-Haq’s office was the property of an Anglican church. Even the Church was raided, its doors smashed in.
Mazen Rantisi, head of the board of directors at the UHWC spoke to Al Jazeera. “We found a document plastered on the door, in Hebrew only, saying that this is a closed organization, we are not allowed to enter, and no time period is specified”, said Rantisi.
“This will impact the services we offer – but we will find a way to continue our work”, added Rantisi.
The organizations targeted do important work in the West Bank. Ranging from focusing on human rights abuses by the Israeli forces to giving legal counsel to the Palestinian detainees. In the global circle, Al-Haq along with the other organizations have created names for themselves.
International outcry
Israel’s defense minister Benny Gantz made a public statement a day before the raid took place, emphasizing it’s position on the matter saying that the organizations, “operate under the guise of performing humanitarian activities to further the goals of the PFLP, to strengthen the organization and to recruit operatives”
It is worth mentioning that Israel has not provided any evidence to back up its claims yet.
Many members of the European Union fund these organizations. Nearly nine of those countries reject Israel’s claims saying that they will keep funding the organizations. The foreign ministries of Belgium, Denmark, Spain, France, Germany, Ireland, Sweden, Italy and the Netherlands all rejected Israel’s claims saying that they had not received “substantial information” on the matter. Ned Prince, a spokesperson for the US state department said, “We have not changed our position or approach to these organizations”
On the very same Thursday, the forces also shot a Palestinian youth in the area. Waseem Nasr Khalifa, a 20-year-old person from the Balata refugee camp of Nablus city was shot after the raid took place. Afterward, armed clashes broke out in the area following the shooting.
These incidents are threatening the fragile peace between the two after the three-day Gaza attacks.
Read more- Israel: Shooting injures eight people, including a pregnant woman
