𝐔𝐍 𝐇𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐑𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 𝐎𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝐈𝐬𝐫𝐚𝐞𝐥’𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐛𝐢𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬; 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐈𝐬𝐫𝐚𝐞𝐥 𝐭𝐨 𝐢𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐢𝐠𝐡 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐫’𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐨𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐬 “𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭” 𝐚𝐧𝐝 “𝐮𝐧𝐥𝐚𝐰𝐟𝐮𝐥”

Ramallah (18 August 2022) - At dawn today, Israeli Forces broke into, searched and sealed the offices of seven Palestinian human rights and humanitarian organizations* in Ramallah. Their property was confiscated and destroyed. Israeli Forces left copies of military orders to close the offices of the organizations. The closure orders are a step to enforce Israel’s previous declarations of these organizations as “unlawful” and as “terror organizations” in 2021. Despite offers to do so, Israeli authorities have not presented to the United Nations any credible evidence to justify these declarations. Several Member States have also stated that the evidence shared with them does not justify the designations. As such, the closures appear totally arbitrary. The shutting down of the organizations represents the latest in a series of attacks that are further drastically shrinking space for human rights and humanitarian work in the occupied Palestinian territory, affecting all institutions working on human rights, including the UN Human Rights Office. Human rights defenders must be immediately protected from these unjustified attacks.

*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); the Union of Palestinian Women's Committees (UPWC).