Israel refused to let a Palestinian citizen of Israel enter the Gaza Strip to reunite with her spouse
March 9, 2020. A Palestinian woman with Israeli citizenship, born in 1999, was engaged to a resident of Gaza. In December 2017, she applied for a permit that would allow her to move there to live with him. Her parents and siblings applied also for permits to attend the marriage celebrations in Gaza. Israel denied all applications based on unspecified “security grounds.” In February 2018, Gisha filed a petition (Hebrew) on behalf of the woman and her family, demanding their permit applications be approved. After the petition was filed, the state reversed its decision, but required the woman to sign a document waiving her right to return to Israel as a condition for her permit.
The petitioner refused to sign such a waiver. After negotiations between the sides to the petition, she did agree to sign a commitment “to refrain from terrorist activities that might threaten the security of the State of Israel and its residents.” She also signed a document stating that she was aware that if she entered Israel within the following two years for non-humanitarian reasons, Israeli security officials would object to her return to the Gaza Strip. At the time, both parties agreed that entry into Israel for the purpose of giving birth “would be considered entry for special humanitarian reasons,” meaning that the woman would be allowed to travel to Israel to give birth and then return to her home in the Strip without objection from Israel.
After the agreement was reached, the petitioner agreed to have the petition deleted and the court issued a 4,000 ILS costs order (Hebrew) in her favor. The petitioner moved to live with her spouse in Gaza, and her family entered the Strip to attend the wedding.
In December 2018, the young woman reentered Israel, while pregnant. Her son was born on July 9, 2019. On February 13, 2020, after a dispute between the petitioner and her family, she applied for a permit to return to the Strip with her son. Her permit application was denied for “security reasons,” without explanation.
In early March, Gisha filed a High Court petition (Hebrew) demanding that the state allow the woman to return to her home in the Strip as it had agreed to do in the previous proceedings. In its response to the petition (Hebrew), the state claimed as follows: “Given the current situation, and in light of the spread of the coronavirus and the instructions issued by the government in this regard, a general closure has been imposed on Gaza Strip crossings prohibiting citizens of the State of Israel from entering the Gaza Strip. Given the aforesaid, the petitioner’s entry into the Gaza Strip is not possible at this time.” The state noted that the relevant authorities would reconsider the woman’s matter after the closure had been lifted. It requested the court cancel the discussion it had scheduled and allow the state to provide it with an update at a later date.
Responding to the state’s request (Hebrew), Gisha insisted the discussion be held as scheduled. We also emphasized the state’s obligation to consider exceptional applications and approve the petitioner’s application despite the general COVID-19 closure. The court decided that the discussion should take place as planned, at which point the state reversed its decision and said the petitioner would be permitted to enter the Strip providing she signed another statement, reiterating that if she entered Israel for any reason that was not humanitarian, she would not be permitted to reenter Gaza. The petitioner, who had been waiting to return to the Strip as soon as possible, agreed to the arrangement. She returned to Gaza with her young son, and Gisha deleted the petition.
