BADIL Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee

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Survey of Palestinian Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons (2006-2007)
f) Residency rights and the right to family life
Palestinian refugees and internally displaced persons in the 1967-occupied Palestinian territory (except occupied eastern
Jerusalem) have the same residency status as non-refugee Palestinians, as part of Israel’s policy to enforce integration of
refugees into the host community (i.e. residents of the OPT). 76 Under Israeli military law, they are considered permanent
resident aliens. Israel, and not the Palestinian Authority, retains overall control of the regulation of residency status in the
occupied Palestinian territory. 77 Forcible displacement due to revocation of resident status by Israel was common until the
1995 Taba Agreement between Israel and the PLO, which, for the first time, protected the right of Palestinians to reside
in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip. 78 However, Israel continues to treat the occupied West Bank and the Gaza
Strip as separate entities with regard to residency, and Palestinians are not permitted to change their domicile from one
area to the other. Israel’s procedures for the reunification of Palestinian families in the occupied Palestinian territory was
arbitrary and restricted between 1967 and 2000, and has come to a complete halt since then. This encourages Palestinian
residents, refugees in particular, to leave the country in order to live with their families.
Since 1967, Israel has unilaterally annexed occupied eastern Jerusalem in violation of international law. 79 As a
result, Israel’s domestic civil regime is applied to the Palestinian inhabitants of the city, but without the protection
deriving from residency or citizenship. Palestinians, including refugees and IDPs, in occupied Jerusalem are
considered “permanent residents” under the Citizenship and Entry Into Israel Law (1952) and Regulations (1974).
Their residency rights can be and sometimes are revoked under this legislation. 80
g) The right to property
Palestinian refugees and IDPs in the 1967-occupied Palestinian territory have the right to own property. This right,
however, is violated by Israel’s occupation, in particular by excessive and arbitrary destruction of property during
military operations, which are especially frequent in Palestinian refugee camps. More significant, however, are
military orders that have enabled Israel to confiscate vast areas of Palestinian land and property, including refugee
property. 81 Property in the occupied Palestinian territory held by the state of Israel and the Jewish National Fund
(JNF) may not be transferred by sale or in any other manner. 82 The construction of the Wall in the occupied West
Bank, beginning in 2002, has imposed further restrictions on the right to property.
h) The right to work, education and public services
Palestinian refugees and internally displaced persons in the 1967-occupied Palestinian territory have the same
right to work and public services as non-refugee Palestinians, but not the same rights as Jewish settlers in these
territory. Refugees displaced by the 1948 war have the right to free elementary and secondary education, irrespective
of whether they attend public or UNRWA-operated schools. Access to work and essential services, however, is
severely restricted by Israel’s occupation, particularly the restrictions on movement and the precarious physical
environment.
i) The right to a nationality, identity and travel document
Like non-refugee Palestinians, refugees and IDPs in the 1967-occupied Palestinian territory may obtain a “Palestinian
Passport” that functions as a travel document. 83 Refugees and IDPs who held Jordanian passports before July 1988 84
are also eligible for a two or five-year renewable Jordanian passport, which functions as a travel document. Those
who hold both a Palestinian passport and a passport from a second state must enter and exit the OPT on their
“Palestinian Passport”. Palestinian residents of Jerusalem who hold Jordanian passports and wish to travel via land
to Jordan must obtain a permit from the Israeli Ministry of Interior; a laissez-passer is required for travel via Israel’s
international airport. Since January 2002, holders of Palestinian passports from the occupied West Bank and Gaza
Strip, including Palestinians with dual citizenship, have not been permitted to exit or enter Israel through Ben
Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv. 85