Family Unification of Residents in the Occupied Palestinian Territory

Abstract

Family unification refers to the administrative procedure through which foreign nationals are granted, on the request of a relative, a legal status in the territory of the state where the applicant is legally staying. In the case of the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt), the regulation of family unification is anomalous, with regards to the concerned state and regulations, the applicant and the concerned relatives, and the consequences of such a procedure. Israel, indeed, has enjoyed exclusive power over the Palestinian population registry and the issuing of IDs for Palestinians since 1967. It unilaterally decides on the granting of entry visas and visiting permits for non-ID holding Palestinians in the oPt and for foreign visitors. The Oslo Agreements did not end this regime. Israeli policies to family unification for the Palestinians of the oPt constitute a violation of the right to marry and to found a family, as guaranteed in Israeli domestic law as much as in Human Rights and Humanitarian Law Conventions that Israel has ratified.