Following petition by Gisha, Israel reverses refusal of permit application by Gaza resident to attend her sister’s wedding in Israel

March 14, 2019. The petitioner, a 50-year-old mother of twelve, applied for a permit to exit Gaza in order to attend her sister’s wedding in Israel. Her application was denied “for security reasons, which naturally cannot be disclosed.” Israel had approved the petitioner visits to Israel in the past, to see her sick mother and then attend her funeral once she had passed away; she could not fathom why her entry into Israel could be considered a threat to national security.

Gisha filed a petition (Hebrew) on her behalf, arguing that the refusal of her permit was arbitrary and that Israel’s decision relied solely on security reasoning, without giving proper weight to other considerations. Under Israel’s severely restricted criteria for movement of Palestinians between Gaza, Israel and the West Bank, Gaza residents are afforded extremely rare opportunities to apply for a permit to visit their first-degree relatives living in Israel: Marriage, funeral or a life-threatening medical condition. Therefore, we argued, the state should give more weight to the circumstances and importance of the visit.

After the petition was filed, Israel reconsidered (Hebrew) the permit application and decided to allow the petitioner to attend the wedding. Gisha withdrew the petition after the petitioner had entered Israel.