permit regime

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

Latest

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

Palestinians wait at the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, in the southern Gaza Strip. (Mohammed Zaanoun)

My humiliation does not make Israel more secure

The 100-mile journey of leaving Gaza took 12 hours, six checkpoints, and interrogations so humiliating that a year later, I am still reliving the trauma. By Anas Almassri On July 31, 2018 the Palestinian Civil Affairs office called me at 10:08 a.m., while I was sitting at my desk in Gaza on what had begun…

By +972 Magazine September 24, 2019

Young Palestinians Mohammed Ehsen, 21, Bassem Abu Ubaid, 33 , who had their legs amputated following injuries during the Great Return March, Gaza Strip, on June 3, 2019. (Abed Rahim Khatib/ Flash90)

How to tell the stories of the siege when you cannot enter Gaza

In a new podcast, I hoped to capture the impacts of the Gaza blockade that are mostly invisible to the outside world. There was just one problem: I can’t go there. By Lital Firestone When I first dreamed up the idea of doing a podcast about Gaza, I hoped to use the medium to get answers to…

By +972 Magazine September 3, 2019

Yael Berda. (Oren Ziv)

‘Israel’s permit regime isn’t about security, it’s about segregation’

The permit system for Palestinians allows Israel to recruit informants, suppress political activity, and create an opaque system of segregation and control. Just don’t say it’s about security, says Yael Berda. The image should be familiar to every person with even the slightest bit of knowledge about Palestine. Hundreds of middle-aged men huddled together at…

By Edo Konrad January 9, 2019