France provides millions of euros annually to highly politicized Palestinian, Israeli, and international advocacy NGOs that operate in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

Grantees: 

  • Lead lawfare campaigns calling on the International Criminal Court (ICC) to indict Israelis based on false allegations.
  • Propagate the genocide canard at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
  • Promote anti-Israel narratives, including the apartheid libel, and BDS (boycott, divestment, sanctions) campaigns. 
  • Campaign against French government measures to reduce antisemitism in France.
  • Portray Hamas’ atrocities of October 7, 2023 as legitimate acts of “resistance,” thereby justifying or normalizing terrorism.
  • Erase or ignore  evidence of Hamas’ crimes, including  numerous detailed and verified reports of systematic sexual violence against Israeli women. 

In addition, declassified Hamas documents released in 2025 reveal systematic efforts to infiltrate and influence humanitarian and civil society organizations active in Gaza, including entities participating in internationally- and France-funded aid programs. These findings have intensified concerns regarding the effectiveness of oversight mechanisms, and the vulnerability of French- and other European-funded projects to manipulation, diversion, or abuse. 

Examples of Funding to NGOs Glorifying the October 7 Attacks and Denying Sexual Atrocities

Euromed Feminist Initiative (EFI)

According to the French Development Agency (AFD), in 2023-2026 EFI is participating in a €3.5 million AFD-funded project designed to “Strengthen[] Feminist CSOs [Civil Society Organizations] working in the Implementation of the Women, Peace and Security Agenda” in Gaza, the West Bank, and Lebanon.

EFI board member Amal Khreishe serves as General Manager of Palestinian Working Woman Society for Development (PWWSD), an EFI member NGO. She shared a video lauding the October 7th attack and depicting Hamas fighters paragliding next to Jerusalem’s Dome of the Rock.

  • One member of EFI is “the women’s framework” of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), an Israeli-designated terror organization that participated with Hamas and other Palestinian groups in the October 7 attacks. This NGO, Palestinian Federation of Women’s Action Committees (PFWAC), regularly posts pictures of DFLP activists wearing military gear and DFLP paraphernalia.

Selected 2023 screenshot taken from PFWAC’s Facebook account, featuring Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) activists wearing military gear.

Parliamentary Question and Response

In July 2024, 23 members of France’s National Assembly (parliament) co-signed a letter addressed to the head of AFD, alerting him to “these publications and comments, which in certain cases fall under the offense of glorifying terrorism,” and calling on AFD to end its funding to these groups.  As of June 10, 2026 – nearly two years later – AFD apparently has not responded to the letter.

Palestinian Medical Relief Society (PMRS)

According to AFD, PMRS is an implementing partner, along with Médecins du Monde (Doctors of the World), on a €1.35 million AFD-funded project in Gaza and the West Bank, “AYIPAL Health (Adolescent and Youth-Inclusive Palestinian for Health),” 2024-2027. In 2021-2024, PMRS was an implementing partner in a €865,022 AFD-funded project in the West Bank, with Secours populaire français.

  • On October 7, 2023, PMRS president Mustafa Barghouti declared, “Today is a glorious day for the Palestinian resistance and people.” On multiple occasions, Barghouti downplayed or denied sexual atrocities against Israelis. For example, on December 6, 2023, Baghouthi tweeted: “The Israeli establishment and government are conducting a black media campaign spreading the false propaganda about rape of Israeli women on the 7th of October to justify the horrific war crimes they are committing in Gaza.”

Source: MEMRI

Source: Alamy

Parliamentary Question and Response

In January 2024, Member of the French National Assembly Caroline Yadan alerted the government to Mustafa Barghouti’s declarations, publications, and comments. The Minister Delegate who responded addressed other contents of Yadan’s letter, but not the issues surrounding Barghouti.

Examples of Funding to NGOs Spearheading the “Genocide” Libel and Lawfare Campaign at the ICC

International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) 

In 2024, FIDH reported on the European Union Register website that it received  €3,047,681 from AFD. In addition, in February 2024, AFD authorized an €8.3 million grant to FIDH for a four-year program called “Strengthening the intervention of the FIDH network to increase the power to act for local human rights defenders and CSOs [Civil Society Organizations].” According to the program description, FIDH will channel the AFD funding to 22 NGO partners; one of these is Al-Haq, an NGO sanctioned by the US and terror-designated by Israel. 

  • On December 12, 2023, FIDH published and promoted a resolution titled, “Israel’s unfolding crime of genocide and other crimes in Gaza and against the Palestinian People.” It was adopted by FIDH’s international board in November 2023, making FIDH the first major international NGO (before Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch) to accuse Israel of genocide in Gaza.
  • FIDH’s three Palestinian NGO members – Al-Haq (represented on FIDH’s international board), Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR), and Al Mezan – which implement programs in Gaza and the West Bank – clearly influenced the resolution. The three are closely linked to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) terror group, and promoted the genocide canard from the first days of the war. For more information, read NGO Monitor’s report “FIDH and Its PFLP-Linked Member NGOs Lead ‘Genocide’ Accusation Against Israel.”
  • The directors of the three Palestinian FIDH partner NGOs – Shawan Jabarin (Al-Haq), Raji Sourani (PCHR), and Issam Younis (Al-Mezan) – served as advisers for the South African delegation that brought a case against Israel to the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
  • In parallel, in November 2023, FIDH (together with Al-Haq, PCHR, and Al Mezan) demanded that the ICC “issue arrest warrants” against Israelis, alleging “war crimes and crimes of genocide.”

Source: FIDH

  • In September 2025, the US State Department imposed sanctions on Al-Haq, Al Mezan, and PCHR for “directly engag[ing] in efforts by the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute Israeli nationals, without Israel’s consent.”

Médecins Sans Frontière (MSF) 

In 2024, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), which usually does not receive European government funding, received almost €3 million from France for a project in Gaza titled “Emergency primary health care for the population of the Gaza Strip affected by the war.”

  • According to an NGO Monitor analysis, between October 7, 2023 and January 2026, MSF – one of the world’s most influential medical humanitarian organizations –  labeled Israel’s actions as “genocide” 272 times across all social media platforms (X, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube). In contrast, “Israeli hostages” were the primary subject in only 3 posts across MSF’s international feeds, representing a frequency of less than 1.1% relative to the “genocide” accusations. The analysis also illustrates that MSF’s use of the “genocide” label is reserved exclusively for Israel. When compared to MSF’s posts on every other conflict, Gaza is clearly unique: During the same period (2023-2026) MSF made no mentions of “genocide” on any platform regarding the conflicts in Sudan, Syria, Yemen, Ukraine, or Myanmar.  Despite documenting ethnic cleansing in Darfur and indiscriminate bombing in Syria, MSF avoided the legal weight of the genocide label except when it applied to Israel. For more information, read NGO Monitor’s report “NGO Malpractice: MSF (Doctors Without Borders) and the Gaza ‘Genocide’ Campaign.”

Plateforme des ONG Françaises pour la Palestine (PFP)

Since 2009, AFD has provided approximately €1.3 million to various Plateforme des ONG françaises pour la Palestine (PFP) programs that aim to influence opinions about the Arab-Israeli conflict among French media and decisionmakers. 

Before and after Hamas’ October 7, 2023 invasion and atrocities, numerous members of parliaments, as well as the CRIF and the LICRA, called on AFD to put an end to its funding for PFP. In its response, the French government did not meaningfully address the issues; AFD continues to fund the organization.

Examples of Funded NGOs Campaigning Against the French Government in Its Fight against Antisemitism and Extremism

FIDH

See above for information on French government funding for FIDH.
In October 2025,  in “partnership” with AFD and with co-funding by the European Union,  FIDH published a report, “Solidarity as a Crime: Voice for Palestine Under Fire.” In it, the NGO denounces the cancellation of conferences that had been slated to feature either virulent anti-Zionist French MEP Rima Hassan or scholar Judith Butler, who had cast doubts on reports of systematic rape on October 7th. In the report, FIDH also protests the likely dissolution of the Urgence Palestine group, which according to the French Minister of Interior promoted “calls to violence,” and the expulsion from France of Mariam Abu Daqqa, a senior member of the PFLP terrorist organization. By portraying these actions as “rights violations” or “attacks on academic freedom,” FIDH attempts to blur the line between freedom of expression and the glorification of terrorism.

FIDH report written in “partnership” with AFD and “co-funded” by the EU (see logos at the bottom of the report’s cover page).
Source: FIDH

PFP

See above for information on French government funding for PFP.

In 2019 and 2026, PFP spearheaded aggressive campaigns to oppose motions to combat antisemitism; their opposition in both cases was due to the use of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism.

  • The IHRA working definition of antisemitism, adopted by nearly 30 countries and counting, represents the international consensus on the definition of antisemitism, as well as how to distinguish between legitimate criticism of Israel and antisemitism. An example of the latter includes denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination, for example by claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor. 

In April 2026, the French government removed the motion from the agenda of the National Assembly. PFP declared in a statement that “the 700,000 signatures collected on the citizen petition against the [Caroline] Yadan bill . . . along with the 50,000 direct messages sent to Members of Parliament through the tool provided by the French NGO Platform for Palestine [PFP], pushed the government to back down” (emphasis added). 

In 2019, PFP stated that it will oppose any resolution that includes “reference to a largely fantastical anti-Zionism” and does not “explicitly exclude ‘examples’ supposed to illustrate the ‘IHRA definition.’” Additionally, the organization sent two letters to the French President, including one demanding that he “not respond to the requests of individuals and institutions wishing to advance the consideration of Resolution No. 1952, not to pursue the application of the said ‘IHRA working definition’ and to refrain from formally adopting it.” PFP also sent a letter to the French Prime Minister, and published:

Ironically, the communication sheet for the €320,000 AFD-funded project “Promoting, on the Israeli-Palestinian issue, an informed debate based on international law (Phase 4)” (2023-2026), states that “In this project, the PFP’s priorities are [among others]: to continue combating disinformation, dismantling misconceptions and conflations, and fighting racism, including antisemitism, in all its forms” (emphasis added).

Hamas’ Systemic Control of NGOs in Gaza

Since seizing control of Gaza in 2007, the Hamas terror group has exploited NGOs there to tighten its grip on the enclave. On the basis of declassified internal Hamas documents, in December 2025 NGO Monitor revealed the extent of Hamas’ infiltration and subordination of humanitarian organizations for its terrorist agenda – and evidence that all too many NGOs cooperated with Hamas’ surveillance, obstruction, and hijacking of aid.

Several well-known international NGOs – including France-based Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), Médecins du Monde (MdM), Action Contre la Faim (ACF), Handicap International (HI), Première Urgence Internationale, and Agency for Technical Cooperation and Development (ACTED) – are referenced in the Hamas documents. All of these organizations have received French government funding for their Gaza and West Bank operations. 

European Commission and CNCDH Responses 

Several parliamentary questions and letters were submitted to the European Commission to draw attention to this matter. In his letter, France’s Minister Delegate for European Affairs demanded that the European Commission “shed full light” on European funding that may have been diverted for the benefit of Hamas.  However, rather than launching an official investigation into the allegations, the Commission downplayed the concerns, arguing that its requests to the Israeli authorities to verify the authenticity of the documents had remained unanswered. 

On December 26, 2025, France’s National Consultative Commission on Human Rights (CNCDH) sent a letter to the French Minister Delegate for European Affairs about the letter he had sent to the European Commission. In it, the CNCDH complained that the Minister’s statements “are liable to fuel and reinforce the arguments put forward to justify restrictions on access to aid, even though those arguments are entirely unfounded.”

CNCDH’s member organizations include Médecins du Monde (MdM) and Action contre la Faim (ACF), which appear in Hamas documents (for more information, read NGO Monitor’s report), as well as FIDH and Amnesty International. 

Kamal Adwan Hospital

According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA) Financial Transparency System, in 2025, the French government provided the United Nations Population Fund (UNPF) with €500,000 to “support Kamal Adwan hospital.”

The Kamal Adwan medical complex is one of three Gaza-based hospitals affiliated with the Gaza Military Medical Services (MMS; out of approximately 30 hospitals in Gaza). MMS-affiliated hospitals provide medical care to members of the Hamas-controlled security forces and their families, as well as to civilians. For more information, see NGO Monitor’s report “The Campaign to Whitewash the Director of a Hamas-Controlled Hospital.”

In February 2026, NGO Monitor uncovered a photo from a 2016  ceremony marking the opening of an extension of the hospital. The image, posted by the Gaza Military Medical Services, features employees of the hospital in military uniform, including Dr. Ahmed al-Kahlout – the hospital’s director at the time – and  Dr. Abu Safiya, who later served as the hospital’s director, following the December 2023 arrest of al-Kahlout by the Israeli army. Dr. al-Kahlout admitted that “Hamas has turned hospitals into military facilities under their control.” 

Dr. Ahmed al-Kahlout and Dr. Abu Safiya, in military uniforms, attending a 2016 ceremony marking the opening of an extension of Kamal Adwan hospital.
Source: Facebook account of the Gaza Military Medical Services