Ahmad Dweikat, 50, a father of four from Nablus, recounted how Israel closed the nonprofit organization he founded with a group of academics to provide economic and psychological support to people in need
I work as an educational and psychosocial counselor at a public school.
On Thursday, 14 May 2026, at around 6:00 A.M., a local resident rang me to say that the army had raided the Waqf building, which houses the offices of the ‘Medid’ organization – a charity that I and a group of other academics founded on 10 October 2010.
In the beginning, we provided counseling and emotional support services. Over time, we noticed that the main cause of distress for most of our recipients was economic, so we expanded our activities and added humanitarian aid and charity, based on a concept of mutual responsibility and social solidarity. We adopted the motto: "As long as the people of kindness hold steady, the state of society will also be good."
In the beginning, we provided counseling and emotional support services. Over time, we noticed that the main cause of distress for most of our recipients was economic, so we expanded our activities and added humanitarian aid and charity, based on a concept of mutual responsibility and social solidarity.
Over the years, as we gained experience and the needs of various sectors grew, we began adding additional programs with the help of donations from residents and various bodies, some of them international, such as from Sweden, France, and other countries. The nonprofit’s financial system is subject to oversight by the relevant authorities, and we operate in accordance with accounting laws. Every shekel that enters or leaves the organization is documented lawfully through receipts and official documents.
The association provides assistance to women, children, people with disabilities, and families without a breadwinner. We distribute food packages that include basic staples – including rice, sugar, lentils, oil, and other products – as well as clothing ahead of holidays and at the start of the school year. We also run a program for distributing new backpacks and school supplies to students in need, and a program for distributing meat for Eid al-Adha to families living in poverty.
For about two months now, the nonprofit has employed seven women preparing holiday cookies intended for distribution to families in need. All of them are women from families without a breadwinner, and they receive a daily wage of 70 shekels to help their families live with dignity. As part of the project, about 4,000 families benefit from holiday sweets free of charge. In addition, the association operates a community kitchen, which distributes hot meals daily throughout the month of Ramadan, and also serves a hot meal three days a week throughout the rest of the year.
All of our activity is devoted to humanitarian work and helping the entire population, without any discrimination. But unfortunately, all of this activity stopped in a single moment.
All of our activity is devoted to humanitarian work and helping the entire population, without any discrimination. But unfortunately, all of this activity stopped in a single moment. On 14 May 2026, the army raided the association's offices [...]. I entered the office, and saw that the soldiers had turned the place upside down. They confiscated four desktop computers, a laptop, flash drives, and four books of receipts, as well as about 70,000 NIS ILS in cash.
On 14 May 2026, the army raided the association's offices, which are located on the second floor of the Waqf building. I went there immediately, but by the time I arrived, at 7:10 A.M., the soldiers had already left the area. Civil defense personnel were there, having guarded the office until I arrived together with other board members and staff. The organization employs ten female workers, five of them in the community kitchen. All of them are women from families without a breadwinner, and they work to be able to support their children or their elderly parents.
I entered the office, whose area is 150 square meters, and saw that the soldiers had turned the place upside down. They confiscated four desktop computers, a laptop, flash drives, and four books of receipts, as well as about 70,000 NIS ILS in cash. Part of that money was intended for expenses for orphans, part was money that’d been donated and earmarked for purchasing meat for the Eid al-Adha – for which fundraising was still ongoing – and another part was intended for the association's routine expenses and emergencies. The entire sum was confiscated.
I saw a few orders posted on the door of the building, in Hebrew and Arabic, including a military order to close the organization. The orders alleged that our nonprofit provides services to an illegal organization, receives funds from an illegal organization, makes use of the assets of an illegal organization, holds property used for producing weapons, and receives money from arms trading.
The [military] orders alleged that our nonprofit provides services to an illegal organization, receives funds from an illegal organization, makes use of the assets of an illegal organization, holds property used for producing weapons, and receives money from arms trading. [...] I don't understand how we can be accused of such things. If there’s any truth to them, why aren't we being arrested?
I was shocked when I read these things. I don't understand how we can be accused of such things. If there’s any truth to them, why aren't we being arrested? I’ve been the chairman of the board of directors and the acting director of the nonprofit for several years now. The organization has a board of directors, a general assembly, and an orderly organizational structure, and its activity is well known throughout the city. Our entire purpose is to help those in need and to ease, to the best of our ability, their daily hardship.
The closure of the organization hurts, first and foremost, children living in poverty, women from families without a breadwinner, and people with disabilities – who are among the most vulnerable populations. Some people come to us on foot, after walking long distances, just to get a hot meal for their children and family members. People come from villages and refugee camps seeking assistance, even if it’s just a hot meal, as was the case during the month of Ramadan.
Since the start of the war in Gaza in October 2023, the number of people in need of help has risen sharply, after workers who had been employed in Israel were barred from going to work and many lost their livelihoods. Those are the kinds of people that have come to us to ask for assistance or to stand in line during Ramadan to receive a hot meal. People who work for the P.A. including teachers.
Since the start of the war in Gaza in October 2023, the number of people in need of help has risen sharply, after workers who had been employed in Israel were barred from going to work and many lost their livelihoods. Those are the kinds of people that have come to us to ask for assistance or to stand in line during Ramadan to receive a hot meal.
People who work for the P.A. (Palestinian Authority) including teachers, have also begun coming to the organization to ask for help. I was surprised to see them, but they, too, are facing financial hardship because their salaries are not being paid in full or on a regular basis. As is well known, the P.A. has cut salaries for over four years now, and many of the employees have loans they need to repay, so they don’t have enough money left to cover their basic needs.
The deterioration of the economic situation since October 7th has exacerbated the plight of the entire population. No one has been spared from the effects of the war. Many families, who previously lived in relative comfort and stability, have fallen into poverty after completely losing their source of income. Many workers who were employed in Israel or the West Bank lost their jobs and were unable to find alternative sources of income. P.A. employees, who have not received their full salaries for years, have also become a new group in need of our assistance.
We’re lost and don’t know how to get this decision overturned so that we can continue our work and help the poor, the needy, children, women, and people with disabilities.
- Testimony given to B’Tselem researcher Salma a-Dib'i on 17 May 2026