Statement by UN Agencies and the Association of International Development Agencies working in the Occupied Palestinian Territory

The United Nations and its partners take seriously allegations of funding terrorism and the Israeli designations of these organizations as “terror organizations” and/or “unlawful”. Despite offers to review the allegations to determine if funds have been diverted, Israeli authorities have not given any compelling evidence to the United Nations Agencies nor its NGO partners working in the Occupied Palestinian Territory 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.

We reiterate our November 2021 statement: counter-terrorism legislation must be in accordance with obligations under international law, in particular, international humanitarian law and human rights law, which include full respect for the rights to freedom of association and expression. It cannot be applied to legitimate human rights and humanitarian work; the breadth of the Israeli 2016 Anti-Terrorism legislation and its impact on the presumption of innocence present serious concerns under international law.

We urge the Government of Israel to refrain from any action that would prevent these organizations from continuing their critical human rights, humanitarian and development work in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

𝘕𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘴:

1. 𝘙𝘦𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘜𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘕𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴, 𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘴, 𝘧𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘴.

2. 𝘈𝘐𝘋𝘈 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 83 𝘐𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘕𝘎𝘖𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘖𝘤𝘤𝘶𝘱𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘗𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘛𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺.

3. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘻𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘳𝘦: 𝘈𝘥𝘥𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘳 𝘗𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘳 𝘚𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘏𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘙𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘈𝘴𝘴𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯; 𝘈𝘭 𝘏𝘢𝘲; 𝘉𝘪𝘴𝘢𝘯 𝘊𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘙𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘋𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵; 𝘋𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘊𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘯 𝘐𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 – 𝘗𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘦; 𝘏𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘩 𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘦𝘴 (𝘏𝘞𝘊); 𝘜𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘈𝘨𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘦𝘴 (𝘜𝘈𝘞𝘊); 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘜𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘗𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘞𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯'𝘴 𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘦𝘴 (𝘜𝘗𝘞𝘊).