Iran Press/ America: Israel on Friday designated six Palestinian civil society groups as terrorist organizations and accused them allegedly of funneling donor aid to militants, a move that drew criticism from the United Nations and human rights watchdogs.
The groups include Palestinian human rights organizations Addameer and Al Haq, which document reported rights abuses by both Israel and the western-backed Palestinian Authority in the occupied West Bank.
Addameer and another of the groups, Defence for Children International — Palestine, rejected the accusations as an “attempt to eliminate Palestinian civil society".
The UN Human Rights Office in the Palestinian territories said it was “alarmed” by the announcement.
The designations authorize Zionist regime's authorities to close the groups' offices, seize their assets and arrest their staff in the West Bank, watchdogs Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International said in a joint statement. 219
