By Rami Ayyub

TEL AVIV (Reuters] -Israel has designated six Palestinian civil society organizations terrorist organizations. It accused them of funnelling humanitarian aid to militants. The move was criticized both by UN human rights monitors and the United Nations.

Israel’s defense ministry stated the terrorist groups were linked to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. (PLFP) is a left-wing faction that includes an armed wing and has committed deadly attacks against Israelis.

This group includes the Palestinian human right organisations Addameer, and Al-Haq. They report on alleged rights violations in Israel by the Western-backed Palestinian Authority.

According to the defense ministry, “The (declared) organizations received large amounts of money, from European countries, as well international organisations, through a variety of fraud and deceit.” The money, the defense ministry stated, had been used in support of PFLP’s activities.

In a joint statement, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International stated that the designations authorize Israeli authorities to shut down the offices of the group, take their assets, and arrest the staff.

Addameer as well as another group, Defense for Children International (Palestine), rejected the charges, calling them an “attempt at eliminating Palestinian civil society”.

The United Nations Human Rights Office for the Palestinian Territories stated that they were “alarmed” by the announcement.

It stated that “Counterterrorism legislation cannot be used to restrict legitimate human rights or humanitarian work,” and added that some reasons were unclear or inapplicable.

It stated that these designations were the latest in a long-running stigmatizing campaign directed against organizations and such groups, which has damaged their ability to perform their critical work.

Israel’s Defence Ministry stated: “These organizations pretend to act for humanitarian purposes, but they serve as cover for financing and promotion of the ‘Popular Front.

Officials with the PFLP (which is listed on the United States and European Union terrorist blacklists) did not reject ties with six organizations, but stated that they maintained relations with civil society organisations in the West Bank or Gaza.

Kayed Al-Ghoul, a PFLP official stated that it was part of the “rough battle Israel is launching” against Palestinians and civil society groups to exhaust them.

Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International stated that the decision was an “alarming escalation” that could shut down work by some of Palestine’s leading civil society organisations.

In 1967, Israel captured East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip from Israel. The territories are being sought by the Palestinians for their future state.