العربية
HE
العربية
HE
The appellants in the petition are a married couple. The husband, a computer engineer, met his wife while working as a technician on a radio games show broadcast in the Territories in which she participated. In April 2006 he managed to enter the Gaza Strip and the couple signed a marriage contract in Rafah. They scheduled a date for the wedding ceremony and the bride-to-be contacted the Palestinian Civilian Committee and submitted an application for an entry permit to Israel in order to travel from Rafah to Hebron for the purpose of her marriage. The Israeli side rejected the application and a further request by the woman. Four subsequent requests were all rejected by the Israeli side without any grounds being given. The repeated rejections resulted in pressure on the intended bride from her own family, who claimed that the repeated postponement of the wedding was undignified and unacceptable.
HaMoked contacted the Humanitarian Desk in the District Coordination Office and requested that the woman be permitted to travel through Israel. Once again, a laconic rejection was received. Although administrative authorities are legally obliged to state the grounds for their decisions, the military offered just one word in explanation of its rejection – “criterion.” With this one word it shattered the couple’s dreams of a shared married life together.
On 7 October 2007, HaMoked filed a petition at the High Court of Justice (HCJ) arguing that the respondents were violating their obligation to ensure the normative lives of the appellants as reflected in international and Israeli law. Thus, for example, Regulation 43 of the Hague Regulations imposes an obligation on the military authority to ensure public order and life; it has been ruled that this includes civilian circumstances relating to an individual’s life within society. HaMoked further claimed that by refusing to permit the woman to pass through Israel the military was impairing the couple’s constitutional right to a family life – a right that is also protected under international humanitarian law.
On 18 October 2007, the woman was permitted to cross through Israel to Hebron. It was agreed that she would remain in the West Bank for two months, at the end of which time she would return to the Gaza Strip. During this period she would take steps to change her registered address. It was further agreed that requests to extend this period of stay would be considered insofar as humanitarian grounds were found to justify the request.
On 22 October 2007, the day of her wedding, the bride and her family left the Gaza Strip for Hebron via Erez Crossing.
Read the agreed application to delete the petition dated 18 October 2007 (Hebrew)
