As Israel’s attacks on Palestinians in Gaza escalate, supported by US military and political backing, the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has imposed sanctions on leading Palestinian human rights organizations—Al-Haq, Al Mezan Center for Human Rights, and the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights. These sanctions constitute a severe assault on human rights standards, international justice, and the global pursuit of accountability.
These organizations have long documented Israel’s violations of international law, providing legal research, advocacy, and evidence to international mechanisms, including the International Criminal Court (ICC). Despite their role in upholding international law, they are now targeted alongside ICC officials and the UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese in an effort to shield Israel from accountability for its actions in Gaza, the occupied Palestinian territories, and under its apartheid policies. Addameer, another key Palestinian rights organization, has also been arbitrarily sanctioned for its human rights work.
We, the undersigned organizations, condemn these sanctions and call on states to take urgent, coordinated action to protect the organizations, their staff, and their work. Governments must reaffirm their commitment to international human rights and oppose Executive Order 14203, which enables these extraterritorial attacks. The sanctions represent the latest attempt to silence Palestinian voices in a decades-long campaign to deny their rights under international law, including the right of return, while evading accountability for systemic violations.
States should ensure the safety and protection of Palestinian human rights defenders and organizations operating in Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem. EU Member States are urged to invoke and enforce the EU Blocking Statute to shield these organizations, UN experts, and ICC actors from US extraterritorial sanctions, while other states should adopt similar protective measures. Governments must also pressure Israel to end its genocide, apartheid, and occupation, including through targeted sanctions, a comprehensive arms embargo, and suspension of activities linked to the occupation.
Human rights groups, solidarity movements, and social activists worldwide are called upon to amplify Palestinian voices, organize peaceful demonstrations, and hold Israel accountable for its violations of international law. The international community must act now to defend Palestinian human rights organizations, uphold international justice, and resist the silencing of those working to protect human dignity in the occupied territories.
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