JERUSALEM (AP) – Israel said on Friday that six Palestinian human rights groups were terrorist organizations, claiming they were secretly linked to a militant left movement.

It was not immediately clear what the distinction would mean for the groups. Most of the targeted groups document alleged human rights violations by Israel as well as the Palestinian Authority, both of which regularly detain Palestinian activists.

The designated groups are Al-Haq, a human rights group founded in 1979, as well as the Addameer rights group, Defense for Children International-Palestine, the Bisan Center for Research and Development. , the Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees and the Union of Farmers Working Committees.

Israel’s defense ministry said they were linked to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a left-wing secular movement with a political party as well as an armed wing that carried out deadly attacks against Israelis.

The ministry’s statement was released over the Israeli and Palestinian weekend. Representatives of the targeted organizations could not be reached immediately for comment.

The Defense Ministry said the groups “constitute a network of organizations active undercover on the international front on behalf of the” Popular Front “, to support its activity and pursue its objectives.” and employs its members, including some who have “participated in terrorist activities”.

He said the groups served as a “central source” of funding for the PFLP and had received “large sums of money from European countries and international organizations”, without giving further details.

Spokesmen for European Union delegations in Israel and the Palestinian territories did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The Palestinian Authority condemned what it called a “rampant attack” on Palestinian civil society.

“This spurious and defamatory slander is a strategic attack on Palestinian civil society and the fundamental right of the Palestinian people to oppose the illegal occupation of Israel and expose its continuing crimes,” he said in a statement.

Israeli human rights group B’Tselem called the government’s statement “a characteristic act of totalitarian regimes, with the clear aim of shutting down these organizations.”

“B’Tselem stands in solidarity with our Palestinian colleagues, is proud of our common work over the years – and is determined to continue to do so. “