THE Israeli army shut down several Palestinian human rights organisations today, just hours after a young Palestinian man was shot dead in the northern West Bank city of Nablus.

Eighteen-year-old Waseem Nasr Khalifa from the Balata refugee camp was killed during clashes that broke out after an Israeli raid in the city.

Occupation forces targeted Nablus just after midnight to secure the entry of Jewish settlers to the site of Joseph’s Tomb in the east of the city, the army said.

At least four other Palestinians were injured when soldiers opened fire with live ammunition.

A large army convoy also raided Palestine’s administrative capital Ramallah at dawn and broke into the offices of seven human rights organisations.

Six of the organisations, Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, Al-Haq rights group, the Union of Palestinian Women Committees, the Union of Agricultural Work Committees, the Bisan Centre for Research and Development and the Palestine chapter of the Geneva-based Defence for Children International, were deemed illegal and accused of terrorism by Israel in October last year.

The groups, which conduct critical human rights work, often co-operate with the International Criminal Court and the United Nations.

No evidence was provided by the Israeli government to substantiate the claims and the European Union has rejected the charges.

The organisations’ equipment was confiscated and the doors of their premises sealed shut.

Al-Haq director Shawan Jabarin said his staff were examining whether any documents had been confiscated.

He said that “neighbours and strangers” who were nearby during the raid had reopened the office as soon as the Israeli soldiers left, adding that the staff were inside and had resumed work.

“We don’t take permission from any Israeli military or political official. We are proceeding, encouraged by our belief in accountability and international law,” he said.

Mazen Rantis, head of the seventh organisation, the Union of Health Work Committees, said: “The goal is to put obstacles in the way of civil society so that it doesn’t develop. It is part of destroying Palestinian society and to make people feel defeated.”

The West Bank’s Palestinian Authority government described the closures as a “dangerous escalation and an attempt to silence the voice of truth and justice.”

Senior official Hussein al-Sheikh said that the authority would appeal to the international community to reopen the institutions.

A protest was planned to take place outside the al-Haq office after the Morning Star went to press.