Israeli permit regime in the Gaza Strip

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The Israeli permit regime in the Gaza Strip is the legal regime that requires Palestinians in the Gaza Strip to obtain a number of separate permits from the military authorities of Israel, their legal occupiers.

Contents

Israeli work permits allow pass holders to work in Israel or its occupied territories [1] where wages are significantly higher than in Gaza, which has been under a blockade by Israel and Egypt since Islamist militant group Hamas has gained power in the region. [2]

Israeli authorities, including the Ministry of Defense, view the scheme as a means of keeping peaceful relations; [3] [4] critics view the scheme as a form of coercive control. [5] Israel also operates a similar permit regime in the West Bank. [2] The Associated Press notes that this is used for leverage by Israel, who know that the violent actions of Hamas are going to be blamed for Gazans losing their work permits. [2]

History

When Hamas seized power of the Gaza Strip in 2007, 120,000 Gazans who worked inside Israel had their passes revoked. [2] In recent years, Israel has allowed thousands of Gaza Palestinians to work within its borders. In 2021, 7,000 Gazans held Israeli work or trade permits. In 2022, the permit quota was raised to 17,000, with a planned increase to 20,000. [6] The wages earned in Israel are significantly higher than what’s available within Gaza. For example, one permit holder mentioned that one month of work in Israel equals three years of work in Gaza. [2] In September 2023, approximately 18,000 Gazans had Israeli work permits, which provided a cash injection of $2 million a day to Gaza's economy. [7]

Following the 2023 Hamas attack on Israel and subsequent armed conflict between Israel and Hamas, Gazans in Israel on work permits were unable to return to Gaza after they were revoked by Israeli authorities. [8] [9] Some were detained by the Israel Defense Force (IDF) or other Israeli authorities in the West Bank [10] while others were deported to that territory. [11]

See also

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The Israeli permit regime in the West Bank is the legal regime that requires Palestinians to obtain a number of separate permits from the Israeli military authorities governing Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank for a wide range of activities. The first military order requiring permits for the Palestinians was issued before the end of the 1967 Six-Day War. The two uprisings of 1987 and 2001 were met by increased security measures, differentiation of IDs into green and red, policies of village closures, curfews and more stringent restrictions on Palestinian movement, with the general exit permit of 1972 replaced by individual permits. The stated Israeli justification for this new permit regime regarding movements was to contain the expansion of the uprisings and protect both the IDF and Israeli civilians from military confrontations with armed Palestinians. The regime has since expanded to 101 different types of permits covering nearly every aspect of Palestinian life, governing movement in Israel and in Israeli settlements, transit between Gaza and the West Bank, movement in Jerusalem and the seam zone, and travel abroad via international borders. The Israeli High Court has rejected petitions against the permit regime, allowing that it severely impinges on the rights of Palestinian residents but that the harm was proportionate.

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References

Citations

  1. Roth-Rowland 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Akram & McNeil 2022.
  3. Fabian 2022.
  4. Shotter 2022.
  5. Sella 2023.
  6. Fabian, Emanuel. "Israel okays 1,500 more entry permits for Gaza workers, bringing total to 17,000". www.timesofisrael.com. Retrieved 15 October 2023.
  7. Al-Mughrabi, Nidal (28 September 202). "Israel reopens Gaza crossings, lets Palestinians back to work after two weeks". Reuters .
  8. Shamir 2023.
  9. Berger & Taha 2023.
  10. Pacchiani 2023.
  11. Nobani 2023.

Sources