The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) condemns the Israeli Occupation Forces’ (IOF) raid on the two offices of al-Ard Institution for Agricultural Development in Ramallah and Hebron and their forcible shutdown, in addition to a third express mail company. The raid followed a violent crackdown targeting employees and visitors, resulting in the arrest of several of them and the confiscation of the institution’s property under unfounded security pretexts. These assaults are part of a wide-scale, systematic crime against Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and represent a serious escalation in the restrictive and closure policies carried out by the Israeli authorities against non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the West Bank.
According to information collected by PCHR’s field researchers, at around 10:00 on Monday, 01 December 2025, the IOF raided the institution’s office in Sateh Marhaba neighborhood in Ramallah, following the deployment of a large number of Israeli soldiers around the building. The soldiers violently knocked on the inner door before opening it and then raided the office without any legal warrant. They detained nine individuals inside the office, including eight employees (five of whom were women) and a visitor consulting the institution. The soldiers locked all those inside the institution in one room at gunpoint, checked their IDs, pushed and kicked them, and prevented them from speaking. Female soldiers forcibly took the female employees to another room, while the soldiers handcuffed the three male employees and the visitor with plastic zip ties and blindfolded them before taking them out to the office entrance. The detainees were forced to kneel with their heads down for two hours without any explanation.
An eyewitness told PCHR’s field researcher that the soldiers repeatedly asked whether there was money inside the office, while those detained heard sounds of breaking, moving furniture, and welding with its smell filling the place during the two-hour detention. The soldiers refused to provide water to the employees despite their requests, and one detainee suffered severe numbness due to the forced position; when he attempted to adjust his posture, he was pushed and forced to keep his head down. After two hours, the soldiers removed his handcuffs and blindfold, confiscated his phone, and forced him to provide the passcode before inspecting the mobile phone and releasing him. The female employees were released after a humiliating two-hour detention and were forced to walk nearly one kilometer on foot to al-Am’ari Roundabout under the escort of a military vehicle.
The IOF confiscated the institution’s equipment, devices, and files, and loaded them onto a military truck. At around 15:30, the IOF closed the institution’s two main doors, welded all the windows, and closed them with metal sheets, fixing banners claiming that the Union of Agricultural Work Committees (UAWC) is an illegal entity, along with a military notice in Hebrew. The IOF kept three individuals in detention: Mouayed Bisharat, Jawad Manasrah, and a visitor who was handling a matter at the office. The raid coincided with confrontations in the area, during which the soldiers fired rubber-coated bullets and teargas canisters at young men. Three young men were hit with rubber bullets, in addition to dozens suffering from tear gas inhalation.
According to information available to PCHR’s field researchers, the institution’s employees still do not know the full extent of the items confiscated from the office due to the complete closure and welding of the doors and windows. The employees also left their personal belongings inside the office, including money, wallets, and ID cards, and have been unable to retrieve them.
In the morning of the same day, the IOF moved into Hebron and station on Nimera Street before raiding a building that houses an office for al-Ard Institution and branches of the Local Seed Bank, and the Agricultural Vocational Training Center. The IOF detained four employees inside the building, handcuffed them, and took them to the main street. The soldiers searched all three floors, destroyed furniture and interior doors, and confiscated files, computers, and a safe. The IOF also raided “Be Found Online,” express mail company within the building, and confiscated $600 and two computers. The doors were welded shut, and the IOF hanged up a record of seized funds and a banner declaring the Union an illegal entity. The four employees were arrested and taken to an unknown destination, while the employees of “Be Found Online” were instructed to report to the Shin Bet’s headquarters in Telem settlement.
This campaign targets Beit al-Ard Institution as part of a systematic policy to silence the CSOs and undermine their ability to provide services and defend the rights of affected groups.
PCHR calls for immediate international intervention to pressure the Israeli occupation authorities to halt attacks on CSOs and to lift the closure of the institution’s offices immediately.
PCHR also demands the return of all confiscated property, the immediate release of all detainees, and ensuring their ability to communicate with their families and lawyers.
PCHR calls on international organizations and donors to take action to protect Palestinian institutions from arbitrary designations and closures, ensure the uninterrupted continuation of their work without threats, and safeguard human rights defenders in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt).
