Israel designates Palestinian civil society groups as terrorists

Israel designated six Palestinian civil society groups as terrorist organizations on Friday, accusing them of funneling donor aid to militants.

The groups include Palestinian human rights organizations Addameer and Al-Haq, which document alleged human rights violations by both Israel and the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank.

According to the Israeli defense ministry, the groups had ties to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a left-wing faction accused of carrying out attacks against Israel.

“(The) declared organizations received large sums of money from European countries and international organizations, using a variety of forgery and deceit,” the defense ministry said.

The decision drew criticism from the United Nations and human rights organizations.

“Counter-terrorism legislation must not be used to constrain legitimate human rights and humanitarian work,” the UN Human Rights Office in the Palestinian territories said.

In a joint statement with Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch said that the designations will authorize Israeli authorities to close the groups’ offices, seize their assets, and arrest their staff in the West Bank.

Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International said the “decision is an alarming escalation that threatens to shut down the work of Palestine’s most prominent civil society organizations.”