permit regime

Palestinians use a rope to climb over the separation barrier from the al-Ram village into East Jerusalem, January 12, 2026. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

The Palestinians dying for work

Israel shut its borders to West Bank laborers after Oct. 7. But desperation means thousands are finding a way in — and Israeli police keep shooting them.

By Charlotte Ritz-Jack June 12, 2026

The mosque in Dayr al-Shaykh, one of the last remaining structures in the destroyed Palestinian village, west of Jersualem, from "The Erasure of Palestine." (Ahmad Al-Bazz)

A Palestinian photographer’s ‘search for what remained’ from 1948

When Nablus-based journalist Ahmad Al-Bazz received an Israeli travel permit, he rushed to visit nearly 200 villages depopulated in the Nakba. Five years later, his new book offers a powerful visual archive of erasure.

By Yahel Gazit May 12, 2026

Palestinians take part in a mass wedding ceremony in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah, August 18, 2018. (Flash90)

Why divorce rates are soaring in the West Bank

A spiraling economic crisis, shrinking job prospects, and Israeli movement restrictions are putting a strain on relationships and destabilizing families.

By Aseel Mafarjeh February 26, 2026

Latest

Palestinian workers at the Erez crossing in Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip, waiting to enter Israel for work, March 13, 2022. (Attia Muhammed/Flash90 )

Strangled by Israel for decades, Gaza’s future must begin with free movement

Israel persistently shirks responsibility for Gaza despite subjecting it to closures, permits, and assaults. Returning to those policies is not an option.

By Noa Galili March 10, 2024

Doctors and nurses clean up after conducting open-heart surgery at Wolfson Medical Center in Holon, Israel, August 13, 2018. (Hadas Parush/Flash90)

A Palestinian student briefly deleted her social media. Israel revoked her permit

Police arrested a West Bank medical student at an Israeli hospital and accused her of 'blocking' friends online. Weeks later, she was barred from returning.

By Oren Ziv December 19, 2023

Israeli security forces guard as Palestinians make their way through a checkpoint to attend Friday prayer of the holy fasting month of Ramadan in Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque, near the West Bank city of Bethlehem, April 29, 2022. (Wisam Hashlamoun/Flash90)

The permit regime is Oslo’s enduring legacy. It must be abolished

The separation logic enshrined by the Oslo Accords birthed a cruel system of Israeli control, whose security justifications collapsed into openly racist ones.

By Yael Berda September 21, 2023

People hold a Palestinian flag during a pride event under restrictions following the spread of the coronavirus, in Tel Aviv, June 28, 2020. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

A Palestinian trans woman’s story peels away Israel’s pinkwashing veil

From oppressive institutions to social prejudices, MC's ordeal embodies the dark reality of LGBTQ Palestinians who thought they could find safety in Israel.

By Sharona Weiss June 8, 2023

Thousands of Palestinians attend Eid prayers at Al-Aqsa Mosque, Jerusalem, July 9, 2022. (Jamal Awad/Flash90)

An hour and 22 years away: Visiting Jerusalem from the West Bank

Israel's permit regime can make it near-impossible for Palestinians in the West Bank to enter Jerusalem. But after waiting my entire life, I finally made it.

By Awdah Hathaleen August 15, 2022

Palestinian workers in line to receive COVID-19 vaccinations at the Qalqilya checkpoint, the West Bank. (Activestills)

In a year of pandemic, Palestinian workers grapple with a virus and an occupier

Six Palestinian workers share how the COVID-19 crisis has affected their livelihoods while navigating Israeli checkpoints, permits, and restrictions.

By Activestills July 8, 2021

Palestinians walking through a hole in the Israeli separation barrier next to the West Bank village of Far’oun near Tulkarem. (Activestills)

The separation barrier is an illusion — and Israel knows it

Most Jewish-Israelis believe enforcing segregation is necessary for their security. In reality, Palestinians defy that segregation all the time.

By Meron Rapoport and Oren Ziv August 14, 2020

Palestinians walking through a hole in the Israeli separation barrier next to the West Bank village of Far’oun near Tulkarem. (Activestills)

‘A rare chance’: Palestinians cross breach in separation barrier to enjoy the sea

Thousands of Palestinian families are traveling through large holes in the West Bank barrier to visit the coast, while the Israeli army largely turns a blind eye.

By Ahmad Al-Bazz and Oren Ziv August 11, 2020

Palestinians arrive to cross into Gaza at the Erez Crossing between Israel and Gaza on September 3, 2015. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

For Gaza patients, uncertainty over Israeli permits is a matter of life and death

Israel's permit regime has become even more arduous for Palestinian patients since the PA halted coordination, with rights groups trying to fill the vacuum.

By Judith Sudilovsky August 4, 2020

Yaffa is where my great grandfather was killed in 1948, and where my grandfather spent his childhood and adolescence. Like most Palestinian cities, Yaffa is de jure banned to most Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza by Israel. (Mariam Barghouti)

Returning to Yaffa, but only as a ‘tourist’

It is hours — days, weeks, maybe some months if we’re fortunate — before my permit expires, when I would have to make my way back to the West Bank, or else Israel will deem my presence in my own ancestral city ‘illegal.’ By Mariam Barghouti If I were given a dollar for the number…

By +972 Magazine October 9, 2019