PCHR, together with NGOs Al Mezan Center for Human Rights, also Gaza-based and founded in 1999, and Al-Haq, based in Ramallah (West Bank) since 1979, came under United States sanctions<\/a> on September 4, 2025, for engaging with the ICC \u201cto investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute Israeli nationals, without Israel\u2019s consent\u201d. These are part of a more widespread set of US sanctions against 11<\/a> ICC prosecutors and judges and UN Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territory, Francesca Albanese. The Trump administration has also threatened institution-wide sanctions<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The US executive order<\/a> also prohibits \u201cthe making of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services by, to, or for the benefit of\u201d anyone under sanctions. Anyone seen as supporting the work of sanctioned people and entities risks<\/a> up to $250,000 in civil fines and up to 20 years in prison.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhen the designation was declared, I was in the Hague to meet with the court, to express solidarity with them\u201d, says Tahseen Elayyan, legal researcher at Al-Haq. He was there together with other organisations such as PCHR. \u201cWe told them very openly that we will continue to cooperate with the ICC, and this will not stop us from carrying out our work.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The sanctions did not come in a \u201cvacuum\u201d, says Zoe Paris, advocacy coordinator for the Coalition for the International Criminal Court. \u201cThey are part of a broader attack against Palestinian civic society organisations\u201d. In 2021, Israel labelled six Palestinian human rights groups as terrorist organisations<\/a> for alleged links to a militant movement. These included Al-Haq and Addameer, among others. Addameer, another prominent Palestinian NGO established in 1991 in the West Bank to support political prisoners, was also sanctioned by the US in June 2025<\/a> for its alleged ties to a group designated as terrorist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe've been subjected to smear campaigns for the last two decades\u201d, Issam Younis tells Justice Info. Younis is the director general of Al Mezan. In a post on X<\/a> he shared that Israel destroyed the organisation\u2019s offices in Jabalia and Rafah and damaged the one in Gaza City, as documents and office chairs can be seen among the rubble. \u201cThe sanctions have very serious and multiple effects on our operations and our ability to represent victims, which is why we've been sanctioned. I think they intend to stop us from doing so, intimidate us and intimidate the victims.\u201d Younis adds that this is a \u201cdirect interference in the independence of the court\u201d, and \u201cstrikes at the very foundation of the rule of law\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The \u201cmost impactful\u201d aspect of sanctions is the financial one, according to al-Sourani. \u201cTwo days after the decision, we were contacted by the bank. They wanted to close our bank accounts. We and our colleagues in Gaza have lost everything over the past two years. PCHR's three offices in Gaza have been targeted and completely destroyed. All our houses have been destroyed and our colleagues who are still in Gaza have still to deal with the genocidal reality while at the same time documenting crimes on a completely voluntary basis. After everything they have been through over the last two years, instead of providing them with substantial support, they are told that they are punished for carrying out their human rights work\u201d, he tells Justice Info. \u201cWe have been operating for months now without any money. We've been trying to find solutions for this, but it's been very difficult.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Donors in the US have also \u201ccut our funding, because they might be sanctioned and might be subjected to heavy fines\u201d, says al-Sourani. He adds that some EU partners have also decided to stop or pause their support due to overcompliance policy adopted by these organisations to deal with those sanctions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe are like outcasts, being closer to us is quite costly\u201d, says Younis about donors stopping their support for Al Mezan Center. \u201cThe sanctions are not a joke. They are very serious on all levels.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n PCHR Colleagues in Gaza are going through \u201cvery difficult times\u201d, al-Sourani concurs, and have to \u201clook out for their needs and that of their families\u201d. In over two years of Israeli bombings and mass destruction, al-Sourani says that PCHR employees have lost their loved ones, as well as their houses and cars. Three PCHR employees, Ihab Faisal, Dana Yaghi, and Noor Abo Al-Noor were killed by Israeli airstrikes along with their families, he recalls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Being sanctioned under a different order, the measures did not take one month to enter into effect but were immediately active for Addameer. Their bank account was frozen, and they could not pay expenses and salaries for their 23 employees, says the NGO's former director Sahar Francis. \u201cThe US control the whole financial system in the world, the banking and all the transfers. No Palestinian local bank or any other bank can open an account for Addameer because it would be subjected to US sanctions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt wasn't just the banks\u201d, Francis continues, \u201call social media platforms and all the service providers \u2013 like Microsoft, Google, and YouTube \u2013 immediately closed.\u201d Addameer\u2019s website, email, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube accounts were closed, and with them the dozens of videos on Israel\u2019s violations against Palestinian political prisoners. Addameer could reopen its website under a different provider and is now trying to find alternative platforms for its communication.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Losing access to Microsoft also meant losing part of Addameer\u2019s legal evidence stored on its cloud. \u201cThey immediately blocked their access and their backup wasn't up-to-date, so they lost some months of legal database\u201d, says Francis. \u201cThey managed to recover the evidence at the end of the day, but it caused more work.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Al-Haq\u2019s YouTube account was also closed. \u201cThey removed all of our videos\u201d, says Elayyan. \u201cMailChimp stopped our emails. We use Proton now.\u201d The organisation\u2019s advocacy work has also suffered as it is often linked to travelling. \u201cYou need money to fly, to cover your transportation and accommodation. Now we have reduced our advocacy activities to the minimum.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n \u201cAt the end of the day, we need to live our lives as normal human beings. With these designations, we have been affected. If I want to go and drink a cup of coffee with my friends or with my family, now it has become more difficult\u201d, says Elayyan. \u201cBut at the same time, we are human rights defenders. For us, this is not a job: we are doing what we believe in.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Al Mezan, Al-Haq and Addameer\u2019s employees are continuing their work of documenting human rights violations and supporting Palestinian civilians on a voluntary basis, their members say. Al-Haq\u2019s around 40 employees based in the West Bank, in Europe and elsewhere continue \u201cirrespective of the repercussions\u201d, says Elayyan. \u201cWe know it is not easy to work in human rights: you might be arrested, deported, or even killed working in this field. But it is a human and noble act, and we will continue\u201d, concurs Younis, of Al Mezan. Al-Sourani stresses that PCHR members, too, see their work as a \u201cmoral responsibility\u201d and not just a job. \u201cThings are very disappointing at the moment, but it's about having the stamina to continue.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to Francis, looking at Israel's ban<\/a> on 37 international NGOs operating in Gaza and the West Bank, \u201cit is very clear that the Israeli occupation is trying to affect any kind of work and support for the Palestinian people on the ground, whether it's the prisoners' issues, or house demolition, healthcare, or land confiscation. This was a bit relieving for us as individuals, that we are not alone in this battle. This is part of the occupation reality\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n All four organisations are resolute in continuing their work. \u201cNow I'm talking to you from my office in Ramallah, from Al-Haq, despite the fact that it is listed on the sanctions list of the U.S., that it is designated as a terrorist organisation by Israel, and that the office is shut down upon a military order\u201d, says Elayyan with a determined smile. He explains that for them in the West Bank, the main bulk of the work, the field work, remains the same. \u201cResearchers are still in the field, collecting data and evidence as usual\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe sanctions did not come as a shock\u201d, says Elayyan. \u201cFrom long ago, we expected this. So we had to take care of our data, and find alternative ways to keep the flow of information with the ICC going and to keep coordination between the victims and the ICC at a high level. And that is still the same.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Israel has denied ICC investigators access to the West Bank and to Gaza so the court relies notably on open-source data and NGO information. \u201cWe are their eyes in the field, we document violations, we investigate crimes. Without us, they will not be able to function,\u201d Al-Haq\u2019s representative says. The NGO has been able to take victims\u2019 testimonies and arrange meetings with the ICC prosecutors, dozens over the years, he says. And that is continuing. \u201cIn this very moment, as we are talking, they are meeting people whom we have sent\u201d, Elayyan states.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Addameer is also continuing its work with UN groups such as the Committee Against Torture, and it keeps its advocacy work. \u201cLike all of the other local prisoners' organisations, we fed the ICC prosecutor's office with the material and information on prisoners in the past\u201d, Francis adds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOver the past two years, we have collected so much information on each violation and each crime\u201d, says al-Sourani of PCHR. \u201cWe have thousands of testimonies and victims, so we still need to share what we already have. The violations and the genocide are still ongoing, many things need to be followed and reported on.\u201d He brings the example of a report they published that was the first to raise awareness on sexual violence against Palestinian detainees in Israeli detentions. He explains that such documentation needs extensive and specialised work, and if they do not do it, some crimes might not come to light. \u201cIf the sanctions continue, they will have an impact on the documentation of human rights violations and will allow for more crimes to be committed because years of impunity that Israel enjoyed by the international community is really what made this genocide possible.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Triestino Mariniello is a professor of Law at Liverpool John Moores University and a member of the legal team representing Gaza victims before the ICC. He says that lawyers based in the US, including victims' representatives, as well as organisations \u201cthat openly supported the investigations or our work, can no longer do so\u201d, because of the risks they face. These lawyers were involved in cooperation, assistance and discussion on strategic litigation. \u201cSome legal representatives could not represent victims anymore. Something like this is of unprecedented gravity\u201d, he says. \u201cThis has an impact on the proceedings.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Civil society had advocated for the ICC to look at Palestine since 2009, when the Palestinian Authority sought to accept the Court's jurisdiction, which it was not allowed to because of its particular status before the UN. Only in 2015 could it finally join the Rome Statute. A preliminary examination was opened in 2019, but only in 2021 did an official investigation start. In 2024, ICC judges issued arrest warrants against three top leaders of the Gaza-based Palestinian organization Hamas, as well as for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Minister of Defence Yoav Gallant for crimes against humanity and war crimes. According to the US order<\/a>, these \u201cbaseless\u201d warrants \u2013 those against Israeli leaders \u2013 are the reason for sanctions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt is inevitable that, after 15 years, people view [the ICC] with a degree of scepticism. But despite the distrust, the court continues to represent for the victims and for us one of the few tools available to secure justice. And the Palestinian NGOs have truly been instrumental over the years through their documentation work\u201d, says Mariniello.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Elayyan adds that some victims have started to trust them more since the issuing of US sanctions, which show \u201cwe are moving on the right path\u201d. But he says they cooperate with the local NGOs because they trust them, not because they trust the international justice system. After over two years of \u201clivestreamed genocide\u201d, al-Sourani also warns that people on the ground have little to no faith in international justice. \u201cBut what we long warned of is that letting go of these mechanisms, of the UN or the ICC, can have a much worse impact. Despite the challenges and the failure of the international system, we will continue to defend human rights, international law, and international accountability mechanisms because the alternative would be the rule of the jungle.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The ICC office of the Prosecutor refused to answer questions but said that it is \u201ctaking extensive measures to ensure the continuity of all relevant operations and services in the face of sanctions\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Chantal Meloni is an international criminal law professor at the University of Milan, senior legal advisor on international crimes and accountability at the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR) and she closely monitors the ICC investigation. \u201cThere is certainly no intention to slow down, but rather to press ahead\u201d, she says. \u201cAs someone in direct contact with the office and the investigative team dealing with Palestine, I know they have not slowed down at all.\u201d She stresses that \u201ceven before October 2023 [when the war in Gaza began], the prosecutor\u2019s office has been investigating crimes committed in the occupied West Bank, specifically everything to do with the system of forced transfer of civilians and exploitation of natural resources\u201d. The Court has also received reports on the crime of apartheid in Palestine, \u201cso this is certainly also on the agenda of the investigations\u201d, according to her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On certain matters, she says, the Court has \u201cbecome less communicative externally about what they are doing\u201d. Last April, ICC judges ordered<\/a> that new arrest warrants must now be kept secret. The Court \u201cmust also protect itself\u201d, says Meloni. Palestinian activists seem to accept that, as long it is not a hidden way not to take action.<\/p>\n\n\n\t The sanctions also indirectly affected non-Palestinian international organisations. \u201cNGOs have to do constant risk assessments\u201d, says Paris. She explains that they need to understand what can be considered \u201cmaterial support\u201d, what the effect could be for service providers if they were themselves sanctioned, and that US colleagues had to leave the Secretariat of the CICC due to the risks. She says that a lot of her time has shifted from promoting justice and accountability to dealing with sanctions. \u201cIt's a waste of time and resources, especially whenever they have to go through lawyers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe aim of the executive order is really to isolate Palestinian organisations so that other NGOs would be afraid to engage with them\u201d, says Paris, and this could have an impact not only on ICC cases but also on domestic investigations under universal jurisdiction that depend on the Palestinian NGOs\u2019 capacity to carry out documentation. \u201cIt is a catastrophic environment\u201d, she says. However, she also describes it as \u201ca crucial moment\u201d, where \u201cwe have to continue our support to the courts and civil society organisations. Sanctions strengthened everyone's determination to continue their work.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe\u2019re keen to keep working, but also fortunate not to be based in the US, so we have had fewer constraints\u201d, says Meloni of Berlin-based ECCHR. \u201cWe have taken measures to protect our staff who hold American nationality. So, certain members do not handle certain contacts or files. We are aware of the risks, and we have decided to take them.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Liz Evenson, international justice director at the US-based Human Rights Watch, wishes to assure of her organisation\u2019s continued commitment. \u201cWe have to comply with U.S sanctions, as a U.S. based organisation. And yet, consistent with the law, we remain fully committed to speaking out against the sanctions and to the importance of the ICC\u2019s critical mandate.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Elayyan is disappointed that many international networks wanted to terminate their membership. \u201cSome of them have been brave enough to continue working with us, but we are not very happy with the reaction of some international networks and organisations\u201d. As to al-Sourani, he says that \u201cgiven PCHR historical role in the human rights movement nationally, regionally, and internationally, and long-standing partnerships with many states and organizations, we thought that we will have more support. Unfortunately, many are now afraid to engage with us due to the sanctions\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Referring to the Israeli attack on UNRWA<\/a> in January, when it demolished the UN agency\u2019s offices in East Jerusalem, Francis notes that states condemned the attack but did not take action on it. \u201cThis is the hypocrisy of the third state parties when it is related to Palestine and the implementation of international law\u201d, she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the ASP in December, the ICC States Parties did sign a declaration<\/a> expressing their concern about \u201cthe attempts to undermine the independence of the Court through threats and coercive measures, including the use of sanctions, against elected officials or those cooperating with the Court, including civil society organisations, which hinder the fulfilment of the Court\u2019s mandate and deter cooperation with it\u201d. But they did not directly name the US or the Trump administration.<\/p>\n\n\n\nSanctions under bombs<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"Palestinians](\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/Palestine_Gaza-demonstration-human-rights-groups_@Mahmud-Hams-AFP.jpg\")
Closed bank accounts, disappearing funders<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Microsoft, Google, YouTube, Instagram, all gone<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt's about having the stamina to continue\u201d<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Continued cooperation with the ICC<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/Palestine_Gaza-israeli-strike-girl-shelter_@Omar-Al-Qataa-AFP.jpg\")
Keeping the victims\u2019 trust<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
How it affects other international NGOs<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Lack of solidarity<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The wider impact on international law<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"Richard](\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/Richard-Rogers_in-depth-interview_@Benoit-Peyrucq-Justice-Info-540x360.jpg\")
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