Ramallah: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has condemned Israel for intervening in the work of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the West Bank, reported the official Palestinian news agency (WAFA).
Abbas told the NGOs’ representatives at his office here that the Israeli decision “is rejected and condemned”, adding that “all the Palestinians stand to the side of the NGOs which document and unveil the Israeli crimes that are committed against the Palestinians”, Xinhua news agency quoted the WAFA report as saying.
Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz October 22 ordered the designation of six Palestinian NGOs in the West Bank as “terrorist organizations”.
The decision was largely condemned by the Palestinians and the European Union.
Israeli media had reported that Gantz declared the six NGOs to be “terror organizations”, saying that they had effectively operated as an arm for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).
“The organizations were active under the cover of civil society organizations, but in practice belong (to) and constitute an arm of the PFLP, the main activity of which is the destruction of Israel,” Gantz’s office said in a statement.
According to the WAFA report, Abbas told the representatives of the NGOs that the Palestinian side is officially acting to confront the Israeli decision on the international stage.
The representatives told Abbas that their organizations will carry on their job and duties “and will confront the Israeli decision which violates international law”.
IANS