Three Palestinian NGOs Sanctioned by US Slam Move as “Coward, Immoral, Illegal and Undemocratic Act”

Washington (Quds News Network)- The Trump administration on Thursday sanctioned three major Palestinian human rights organisations operating in the occupied West Bank and Gaza for asking the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate Israel over its genocide in Gaza. The groups called the move an “illegal and undemocratic act.”

Who Are the Organizations?

The sanctions targeted Al-Haq, the Al-Mezan Center for Human Rights, and the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights. The US tied the sanctions to the organisations for asking the International Criminal Court to investigate Israel over its ongoing genocide in Gaza.

Al-Haq was founded in 1979 and operates in the occupied West Bank. It is one of the oldest Palestinian human rights organisations, and by sanctioning it. Israel has long tried to silence the group. It labelled Al-Haq a “terrorist organization” in October 2021, and the following year, attacked its offices in Ramallah. Soldiers destroyed office equipment and closed the offices.

Israel then sent intelligence “dossiers” to Europe and the US, claiming that Al-Haq had ties to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a secular, leftist political party with a paramilitary branch. Israel never presented evidence to Al-Haq to support its claim that it was tied to the PFLP.

Consequences?

The sanctions will freeze any assets the organisations or people working in them have in the US, and also bar them from transacting in US dollars. In addition, the sanctions could have a secondary impact by discouraging non-US entities from engaging with them.

Response?

In a joint statement issued shortly after the announcement, the organisations condemned the sanctions “in the strongest terms”, saying, “These measures in times of live genocide against our People, is a coward, immoral, illegal and undemocratic act.”

“As the world moves to impose sanctions and arms embargoes on Israel, its ally, the US, is working to destroy Palestinian institutions working tirelessly for accountability for the victims of Israel’s mass atrocity crimes,” the organisation said.

“Only states with complete disregard to international law & our shared humanity can take such heinous measures against human rights [organisations] working to end a genocide,” the statement added.

Gaza Genocide

Since the start of the genocide in Gaza, the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights and Al-Mezan Center have involved in documenting Israeli crimes against Palestinians in the war-torn enclave.

In August, the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights released a 204-page report titled, Voices of the Genocide, which concluded that Israel has committed four of the five acts prohibited under the 1948 Genocide Convention, with the intent to destroy Palestinians in Gaza as a group.

In 2023, the three sanctioned Palestinian rights groups filed a lawsuit with the International Criminal Court, urging the body to investigate Israel for “apartheid” as well as “genocide” and issue arrest warrants for Israeli leaders.

In 2024, the three groups asked Karim Khan, the Prosecutor of the ICC, to address the grave situation unfolding in the Gaza Strip.