A Palestinian woman from the West Bank had married a Palestinian man from the Gaza Strip and moved to live with him there. After the war in Gaza over the last summer, when she was pregnant with her first child, she became determined not to raise her son in Gaza.
She made her first request to travel to the West Bank on December 30, 2014. When she received no answer, HaMoked contacted the army on her behalf. On February 17, 2015, the army rejected the application, claiming the woman did not meet the criteria and that she had traveled to Gaza via Rafah Crossing, without a permit. On March 1, 2015, HaMoked contacted the army requesting the decision be re-evaluated, given the fact that the woman was in the advanced stages of pregnancy, that Rafah Crossing was closed and that the woman wanted to give birth next to her kin in the West Bank.
When the request went unanswered,
HaMoked petitioned the High Court of Justice (HCJ), demanding the military be instructed to allow the woman to travel to the West Bank. HaMoked argued that the denial of her request was a violation of her rights to freedom of movement and to family life. HaMoked also stressed that despite the fact that Israel had recognized that the Gaza Strip and the West Bank were a single territorial unit, it continues to impose severe restrictions on travel between them, making passage from Gaza to the West Bank near impossible. Despite the woman’s advanced pregnancy and her wish to give birth in the West Bank, the court gave the state 30 days to respond.
On March 31, 2015, the army responded to HaMoked’s request for reconsideration with another refusal, adding a reason: “security reasons which naturally cannot be divulged”. Two days later, on April 2, 2015, state counsel told HaMoked that the woman would be allowed to travel to the West Bank after all, “ex gratia”. State counsel added that the woman would be allowed to enter Israel and travel through it only in a security company car, with a security guard and a driver – a costly enterprise.
Though HaMoked objected to the odd way in which a young nine-month pregnant woman has turned into a security risk, it helped make the security arrangements for the woman, who had to pay out of pocket. On April 16, 2015, she returned to her family in the West Bank.
