PALESTINE – In a further escalation of Israel’s ongoing campaign of repression, the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) ransacked and shut down the offices of seven leading Palestinian civil society and human rights organizations in the occupied West Bank on Thursday, August 18 says the People’s Dispatch.
The early morning raids targeted Al Haq, prisoner advocacy group Addameer, Bisan Center for Human Rights, Defense for Children International-Palestine (DCI-P), Union of Agricultural Work Committees (UAWC), and Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees (UPWC). The six organizations have been under constant threat ever since Israel designated them as “terrorist” organizations in 2021. The seventh target was the Union of Health Work Committees, which Israel declared “unlawful” in 2020, and whose offices it shut down in 2021.
Following Thursday morning’s raids, the organizations issued statements detailing how the IOF had broken down the doors of their offices, confiscated materials, welded and sealed their doors shut with iron sheets, and left behind a military order. Addameer stated that the notice declared the organization “forcibly closed” on account of “security in the region and to combat the infrastructure of terrorism”.
The UAWC also shared footage of the raid and stated that the IOF had destroyed office equipment and seized materials from its offices. The IOF similarly seized equipment from the offices of the UPWC and loaded them onto a truck to be taken away. DCI-P also shared photos of the raid. It stated that client files were confiscated and their office sealed and ordered closed. The IOF confirmed the raids on Thursday, stating that it had shut down seven organizations.
BREAKING 🚨 The Israeli occupation forces raided UAWC’s office early this morning 18th of August, as well as the offices of the other #6organizations. They destroyed office equipment, confiscated materials and left a closing order behind. pic.twitter.com/hVaHrRIaKS
— Union of Agricultural Work Committees (@UAWC1986) August 18, 2022
In October 2021, the Israeli Ministry of Defense had declared the six groups as “terrorist organizations” under its anti-terrorism laws, citing their alleged ties to the banned, left-wing Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). Over the following months, Israel failed to present any evidence to substantiate these claims despite repeated demands.
The targeted organizations were carrying out the critical work of documenting the Israeli occupation’s ongoing war crimes in Palestine, and had been collaborating with ongoing investigations into Israel’s actions, including in the probe by the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Israel’s actions have been widely condemned by rights groups as well as UN experts who warned of Israel’s “apparent misuse of anti-terrorism legislation to attack some of the leading civil society organizations in Palestine.”
