US imposes sanctions on a Palestinian NGO and other charities, accusing them ties to militant groups

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Treasury Department on Tuesday imposed sanctions on a major Palestinian legal group for prisoners and detainees along with five other charitable entities across the Middle East, Africa and Europe, accusing them of supporting Palestinian armed factions and militant groups, including Hamas' military wing, under the pretense of humanitarian aid in Gaza.

Those sanctioned include Addameer, a nongovernmental organization that was founded in 1991 and is based in the city of Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

The Palestinian group provides free legal services to Palestinian political prisoners and detainees in Israeli custody and monitors the conditions of their confinement.

The federal government claims that Addameer ''has long supported and is affiliated'' with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a secular, left-wing movement with a political party and an armed wing that has carried out deadly attacks against Israelis. Israel and the United States have labeled the PFLP a terrorist organization.

Addameer did not immediately have a comment on the sanctions.

Israel has alleged that Addameer funds terrorism, a claim that the United Nations previously said it could not support with compelling evidence. In a 2022 report on human rights practices, the U.S. State Department noted Israel's arrest of Salah Hammouri, a French-Palestinian human rights lawyer and an Addameer employee, in a section on ''retribution against human rights defenders.''

The organization also works with Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and is a member of the World Organization Against Torture.

Israel's 2022 storming of Addameer's offices, prompted a rebuke from the UN, who said in a statement that Israel had not provided convincing evidence to support the claim. The UN said Addameer was conducting ''critical human rights, humanitarian and development work in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.''

In February, Zachor Legal Institute, an Israeli-American advocacy group that says it focuses on combatting antisemitism and terrorism, requested Addameer be added to Treasury's sanctions list. The letter, which was written by Zachor, signed by 44 other groups and is addressed to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, relies in part on undisclosed evidence from the Israeli Security Agency in its call for sanctions on Addameer.

Marc Greendorfer, president of Zachor Legal Institute said in an email to the Associated Press that his group is ''very pleased to see Treasury following up on our request.'' He said the federal government should act ''to prevent hostile foreign actors from spreading hate and violence in the United States. We applaud Treasury's action and encourage Treasury to expand its focus to the other groups that we identified.''

Other entities hit with sanctions Tuesday include:

1. The Gaza-based charity Al Weam Charitable Society and its leader

2. The Turkish charity Filistin Vakfi and its leader

3. El Baraka Association for Charitable and Humanitarian Work and its leader

4. The Netherlands-based Israa Charitable Foundation Netherlands and two employees

5. The Italy-based Associazione Benefica La Cupola d'Oro

A 2024 Treasury report on terrorist financing highlights how online crowdfunding is increasingly done under the guise of soliciting legitimate charitable donations, making it difficult to identify as terrorist financing.

Because the majority of crowdfunding activity is legitimate, ''this status can make it more difficult for law enforcement attempting to investigate potential (terrorist financing) cases with a crowdfunding and online fundraising nexus," the report said.

—————

Frankel reported from Jerusalem.