Israel and Palestine: Whether a Palestinian who has lived outside of the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) for a number of years can return to reside in the OPT; whether the returnee requires an Israeli-issued identity card and whether it is possible to obtain the card from abroad; whether someone born in Gaza faces particular challenges returning to the OPT
1. Documents Required to Return to Live in the OPT
In correspondence with the Research Directorate, an official at the Palestinian General Delegation in Ottawa stated that Palestinians require Israeli-issued IDs [called Hawiyeh, "identity card" in Arabic (Palestine 21 Apr. 2016)] in order to enter Palestine (Palestine 18 Apr. 2016). The official further noted that it is not possible to obtain the Israeli-issued ID from abroad (ibid. 19 Apr. 2016). The same source indicated that Israel does not limit the amount of time that Palestinians can spend outside of Palestine, but that in order to return, they need to have an Israeli-issued national ID that was issued after the Oslo Accords of 1995, or, if the ID was issued before 1995, that they left Palestine after 1995 (ibid. 18 Apr. 2016). The official further noted, however, that Israel revoked the IDs of some people who left before the peace process started (ibid. 19 Apr. 2016). According to the same source, the dependents of Palestinians who hold national IDs need to be added to their parents' ID card before they turn five, or, if the parents are in North America, before they turn fifteen (ibid. 18 Apr. 2016). The official stated that the IDs do not have expiration dates (ibid. 19 Apr. 2016).
The Palestinian General Delegation official indicated that the Israeli-issued ID card contains the personal information of the bearer in Arabic and Hebrew on the right side and a photo of the bearer on the upper left side (ibid. 21 Apr. 2016). The official further explained that the ID card indicates the place of birth and place of issuance, showing whether someone is from the West Bank or Gaza, but in either case, the card follows the same format (ibid. 22 Apr. 2016). A sample of the ID card could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.
Regarding the documents required for a Palestinian to enter and reside in Palestine, in addition to the Israeli-issued ID card, the official stated that "it depends on the situation" of the person entering and that Israel is the party that makes the decision (ibid. 19 Apr. 2016). The official explained that "being Palestinian" does not mean that Israel will grant the person access to Palestine (ibid.). While some Palestinians hold Palestinian passports for the purpose of external travel (with passport numbers that start with a zero), they "[do] not grant entry to Palestine" (ibid. 18 Apr. 2016). The official also noted that some Palestinians have travel documents issued by other countries which do not allow entry to either Palestine or to the country that issued the document (ibid.).
A report by the UN Human Rights Council quotes information provided by Israeli human rights NGOs as stating that Israeli authorities require Palestinians to obtain permits to cross between Gaza and the West Bank and to enter and remain in large areas inside the West Bank (UN 20 Jan. 2016, para. 14). According to the same source, this "permit regime" allows Israeli authorities to "limit and control Palestinians' movement in the OPT beyond their immediate residential area" (ibid.).
2. Challenges Faced by Gazans Returning to the OPT
The Palestinian General Delegation official indicated that there are "a lot of additional factors and challenges that people returning to Gaza face" and that Israeli-issued IDs for people from Gaza do not allow for entry to Palestine through Jordan unless there is a "special permit given by Jordan and Israel" (Palestine 21 Apr. 2016).
According to Freedom House, approximately 35,000 Gazans lack identity cards, "severely limiting their ability to travel," and Israel controls the Palestinian Population Registry (Freedom House 2015).
According to the UN Human Rights Council, there are "[l]ongstanding restrictions on free movement between Gaza and the West Bank" (UN 20 Jan. 2016, para. 8). The same source explains that after Hamas took over Gaza in 2007, there was a "strict quota system imposed" for being allowed to enter or exit Gaza, which was "limited to specific categories of persons, such as individuals in need of emergency medical evacuations, medical referral patients, certain businessmen and humanitarian cases" (ibid., para 37). Similarly, a Gaza-based research assistant for Human Rights Watch stated that "travel into and out of Gaza is reserved for exceptional cases," and that the Erez crossing, which is the only crossing linking Gaza to Israel and the West Bank, is limited to "'exceptional humanitarian cases'," which "according to the Israeli military, includes medical patients and their companions, merchants buying large quantities of goods, and family visits for marriage, death, or grave illness" (Human Rights Watch 30 Mar. 2016).
The official of the Palestinian General Delegation indicated that the only port that people from Gaza are allowed to cross, if they have the proper paperwork, is the Rafah crossing in Egypt, and that they are only allowed to enter Egypt if the Rafah crossing is open on that day (Palestine 21 Apr. 2016). The official further noted that the Rafah crossing has not been in operation for the general public "for a while now" (ibid.). According to the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR), a Gaza-based NGO "dedicated to protecting human rights, promoting the rule of law and upholding democratic principles" in Palestine (PCHR n.d.), the Rafah crossing was closed for 241 days in 2014 (66 percent of the year), and "thousands of Palestinians were stuck in Egypt on their way back to Gaza" (PCHR 3 June 2015, 48).The UN Human Rights Council quotes data gathered by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs as stating that, during the period from 1 November 2014 to 31 October 2015, the Rafah crossing was closed except for 37 days, during which it was partially opened (UN 20 Jan. 2016, para. 39). A 2015 article published in the Jerusalem Post similarly reports that Egypt has "almost totally" closed the Rafah border with Gaza and that Israel "remains in full control of Gaza's borders, airspace and coastal waters" (10 June 2015).
The official of the Palestinian General Delegation stated that Palestinians with ID cards from Gaza, whether or not they spent time abroad, "are not allowed to visit or live in the West Bank unless they have a special permit from Israel, which is very rare" (Palestine 22 Apr. 2016). Similarly, the Human Rights Watch research assistant stated that, for Gazans, the West Bank "has been mostly off-limits since 2000" (Human Rights Watch 30 Mar. 2016).
This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim for refugee protection. Please find below the list of sources consulted in researching this Information Request.
References
Freedom House. 2015. "Gaza Strip." Freedom in the World 2015. [Accessed 20 Apr. 2016]
Human Rights Watch. 30 March 2016. Deema El Ghoul. "Penned in Gaza and Dreaming of the World Outside." [Accessed 20 Apr. 2016]
Jerusalem Post. 10 June 2015. "Encountering Peace: Israel's Strategic Choices Regarding Gaza." (Factiva)
Palestine. 22 April 2016. Palestinian General Delegation in Ottawa. Correspondence from a counsellor to the Research Directorate.
Palestine. 21 April 2016. Palestinian General Delegation in Ottawa. Correspondence from a counsellor to the Research Directorate.
Palestine. 19 April 2016. Palestinian General Delegation in Ottawa. Correspondence from a counsellor to the Research Directorate.
Palestine. 18 April 2016. Palestinian General Delegation in Ottawa. Correspondence from a counsellor to the Research Directorate.
Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR). 3 June 2015. Annual Report 2014. [Accessed 20 Apr. 2016]
Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR). N.d. "About PCHR." [Accessed 25 Apr. 2016]
United Nations (UN). 20 January 2016. Human Rights Council. Human Rights Situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Including East Jerusalem. [Accessed 20 Apr. 2016]
Additional Sources Consulted
Oral sources: Gisha-Legal Center for Freedom of Movement; Israel – Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), Embassy in Ottawa.
Internet sites, including: B'Tselem; ecoi.net; Factiva; Gisha-Legal Center for Freedom of Movement; Israel – Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), Embassy in Ottawa; UN – Refworld.