News - Middle East: The European Union’s top diplomat Josep Borrell says the bloc is “deeply concerned” by Israeli raids on the Palestinian NGOs, while the top American spy agency has been reportedly unable to find proof to label the NGOs as “terrorist organizations”.

“The EU is deeply concerned by the raids on six Palestinian civil society organizations that took place on the morning of August 18 and the measures that followed them, including arrests and interrogations of staff members of these organizations,” Borrell, the EU foreign policy chief, said on Monday.

The statement came in response to last week's Israeli military raid on six prominent Palestinian NGOs in the occupied West Bank.

Borrell called the move “part of a worrying reduction of space for civil society” in the occupied Palestinian territories, terming the actions "unacceptable."

A free and strong civil society is indispensable for promoting democratic values and for a two-state solution, he added.

The top EU diplomat said the bloc “stands firm with non-governmental organizations to uphold the right to freedom of expression and association” in Palestinian lands.

He further said that “no substantial information” has been provided by Israel to back up its allegations that the Palestinian civil society organizations serve as a front for terrorist activity.