Allow human rights and humanitarian organizations to continue their work in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), UN agencies and other partners have urged Israel.
On Thursday morning, Israeli Forces broke into, searched and sealed the offices of seven Palestinian human rights and humanitarian organizations³ in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank.
Their property was confiscated and destroyed and military orders closing the offices were left at the premises.
The attempted closures of the 7 NGO offices this morning affect all institutions working to promote human rights & development & are delivering assistance. See full statement of UN Agencies and INGOs at:https://t.co/P58jWEldDg
— Lynn Hastings (@LynnHastings) August 18, 2022
UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Palestine Lynn Hastings said that attempted closures "affect all institutions working to promote human rights and development and are delivering assistance".
Lodging charges
The United Nations and its partners take seriously allegations of funding terrorism as well as the Israeli designations of these entities as unlawful and/or terror organizations.
Despite offers to review the accusations to determine if funds have been diverted, Israeli authorities have not given any compelling evidence to UN agencies nor NGO partners working in the OPT to support these designations.
Several Member States recently announced that the evidence which was shared with them does not justify the designations.
"The attempted closures of these organization offices represent the latest in a series of actions by Israel that are further limiting the ability of human rights, humanitarian and development work in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, which affect all institutions working to promote human rights, development and delivering assistance," the UN Agencies and the Association of International Development Agencies said in a statement.
