Israel regards Palestinians whose address in the population registry is listed as Gaza who actually live in the West Bank, as “illegal aliens” unlawfully present in their homes; this, even if they have been living in the West Bank for many years, having moved there with Israel’s knowledge and consent and long before it started demanding, without any legal basis, that they obtain a special military permit for “residence in the West Bank”. In 2012,
Israel undertook before the High Court of Justice to no longer deport to back Gaza such people who had relocated to the West Bank before September 2005, provided there was no security preclusion against them. However, Israel continues to refuse to update these people’s addresses in its copy of the Palestinian population registry, and continues to regard them as “illegal aliens” in the West Bank.
On June 21, 2017,
HaMoked sent the military a freedom-of-information application, asking to receive data for the years 2011-2017 concerning the expulsion of Palestinians from the West Bank to Gaza based on their registered address – deliberately left incorrect – pursuant to the Order Regarding Security Provisions [Consolidated Version] (Judea and Samaria) (No. 1651), 5770-2009.
According to the military data,
delivered to HaMoked on December 19, 2017, in each of the years 2011-2015 a handful of people (1-4) were deported from the West Bank to the Gaza Strip due to their registered address; in 2016, their number rose to six; and in 2017 there has been significant rise –
27 people have already been removed to Gaza, and the year has not yet ended.
The military also noted that in one of these cases, from the year 2017, a
deportation order was issued for a Gaza resident who had moved to the West Bank before 2005 – that is, in the period about which the state has undertaken not to deport people from the West Bank back to Gaza. This case has been
successfully handled by HaMoked, concluding with the order’s cancelation and the man’s release from prison to his home in the West Bank.
Additionally, the military said it was still handling HaMoked’s request for a copy of the procedure on deportation due to a registered address in Gaza.
