Nine European nations have published a joint condemnation of Israeli security forces raiding the offices of seven Palestinian organizations in Ramallah.
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Early Thursday morning, Israel raided the offices of several Palestinian advocacy groups it had blacklisted as terrorist organizations, sealing entrances and declaring them closed.
Israel says the groups are linked to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine terrorist movement. The UN identified the groups as the 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).
Defense Minister Benny Gantz said that the organizations had operated undercover to serve the PFLP, which has carried out deadly attacks on Israelis and which the United States and the EU regard as a terrorist organization.
"They also assist in raising funds for the terrorist organization via a variety of methods that include forgery and fraud," Gantz said.
Shawan Jabarin, director of al-Haq, one of the targeted groups, said he and his staffers are still examining whether any documents were confiscated.
Israeli troops "came, blew up the door, got inside, and messed with the files," he told The Associated Press. They then sealed the entrance to the office, he said.
The Union of Agricultural Work Committees, circulated video showing soldiers in full battle gear searching their office and moving equipment.
The European countries that have endorsed the condemnation include Germany, France, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, Ireland, and Belgium. Some of these governments funds some of the groups raided Thursday.
In the condemnation, the nine nations expressed "deep concern" about the raids, calling them a "continuation of the worrying trend of restriction of civil society activities in the occupied Palestinian territories" and "unacceptable."
The Defense Ministry, however, said that the groups "are operating under the guise of carrying out humanitarian activity to promote the goals of the PFLP terrorist organization, to help build up the group and recruit members, and also help raise money for the terrorist group through a variety of fraudulent ways.
"The five groups are controlled by the PFLP, employ PFLP operatives in management and field roles, and take care to hide their affiliation for fear of security forces in Israel and the countries where they raise funds," the ministry said.
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