A Palestinian woman from Gaza married an Israeli citizen and has lived with him in Israel ever since, with renewable stay permits (also known as DCO permits). The woman visited her family in Gaza from time to time, but after the outbreak of the second Intifada, Israel imposed severe restrictions on travel into and out of Gaza. After Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip, Israel cancelled the holiday family visits it once allowed, permitting visits to Gaza only in exceptional humanitarian cases, including weddings of first-degree relatives.
On January 26, 2014, about ten years after she last saw her family in Gaza,
HaMoked contacted the army requesting it to allow the woman to enter Gaza to attend her brother's wedding. The woman asked to bring along her five children, born after her move to Israel. Some of them had never met their close relatives in Gaza. About a week later, the military informed HaMoked that the request had been denied for security reasons.
On February 13, 2014,
HaMoked petitioned the High Court of Justice to instruct the state to allow the woman and her children to travel to Gaza for the family wedding that was scheduled to take place about a week later. HaMoked argued that the military's decision violated the rights of the woman and her children to freedom of movement and family life, rights that are anchored in both Israeli and international law. HaMoked emphasized that in order to uphold the woman's right to a hearing, the military had to provide more specifics regarding the security reasons for refusing her request.
On February 18, 2014,
the state filed its response, stressing that the woman, a Gaza native, did not need to request a permit to enter Gaza, but did need permission to return to Israel at the end of the visit. In court, the state explicitly stated, "Given the objection of security officials, should the petitioner exit to the Gaza Strip, the Ministry of Interior will consider revoking the DCO permit held by the petitioner". In other words, if the court held that the woman should be allowed to enter Gaza, she might lose her home in Israel, where she lives with her husband and children.
Considering the veiled threat in the state's response, the woman decided not to take the chance and HaMoked withdrew the petition that day.
