YouTube has permanently removed all videos from three major Palestinian human rights organizations — Al-Haq, Al Mezan Center for Human Rights, and the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) — The Intercept reported on Wednesday. The deletions came as part of the platform’s enforcement of U.S. government sanctions, which critics say are aimed at suppressing documentation of Israeli war crimes in Gaza and the West Bank.
According to the report, the videos were taken down in early October when YouTube wiped the groups’ accounts and archives from its website. The removals included hundreds of videos documenting alleged Israeli attacks on civilians, home demolitions, and the killing of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh.
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A spokesperson for Google-owned YouTube, Boot Bullwinkle, told The Intercept that the company “enforces restrictions on entities under U.S. sanctions,” emphasizing that Google is committed to complying with “applicable sanctions and trade compliance laws.” The U.S. State Department had imposed the sanctions in September, citing the groups’ cooperation with the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) investigations into alleged Israeli war crimes involving senior Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Security Minister Yoav Gallant.
Human rights advocates strongly condemned the move, warning that it effectively erases critical evidence of human rights violations and silences Palestinian civil society. Documentary filmmaker Robert Inlakesh also confirmed that YouTube deleted footage showing Israeli soldiers shooting civilians — including children — that had been streamed live.
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The deletions have sparked international concern over the growing influence of political pressure on digital platforms and the shrinking online space for documenting human rights abuses in conflict zones.