UN, EU condemn Israel's closure of Palestinian NGOs

Israel's closure of Palestinian nonprofit organisations which the state has designated “terrorist organisations” caused a diplomatic backlash and drew criticism from the UN and European Union as well as the US. 

"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 occupied Palestinian territories to support these designations," the UN said. 

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 designations of the NGOs as terrorist entities, UN human rights experts found it "disturbing."

“Israel’s disturbing designation of these organisations as ‘terrorist organisations’ 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.

READ MORE: US seeks Israel's explanation over closures of Palestine's NGOs

"Unproven"

The Office of the European Union Representative to Palestine announced that the allegations that Palestinian non-governmental organisations (NGOs) that Israel sealed misused the funds of the union are "unproven" and that they will continue to support Palestinian NGOs.

Several human rights organisations 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 unfreese funds allocated to six of the Palestinian NGOs, but despite the vote, the European Commission did not announce that the funds would be unfrozen.

US State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters 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 organisations."

The NGOs that were raided were the Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, Al-Haq Center, 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 organisations."

An Anadolu Agency correspondent reported that the Union of Health Work Committees was not on the Israeli list issued last year.

Witnesses told Anadolu Agency that during the raids, the Israeli forces confiscated files and computers and destroyed their contents. 

READ MORE: Israel’s defamation of Palestinian NGOs isn’t a first and won’t be the last