Center for the Defence of the Individual - "Ceased Residency": between 1967 and 1994 Israel revoked the residency of some quarter million Palestinians from the West Bank and the Gaza strip
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12.06.2012

"Ceased Residency": between 1967 and 1994 Israel revoked the residency of some quarter million Palestinians from the West Bank and the Gaza strip

On August 30, 2011, HaMoked submitted an application to the military under the Freedom of Information Act, for data on the revocation of status of Gaza Strip residents. This followed the response to a previous application by HaMoked, in which it was revealed that between 1967 and 1994, the military had revoked the residency of 140,000 West Bank Palestinians.
 
On June 10, 2012, the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories replied to the effect that until the establishment of the Palestinian Authority in 1994, the military had revoked the status of 108,878 Palestinians from the Gaza strip. In total, Israel revoked the residency of some quarter million Palestinian from the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. To this must be added the 14,000 East Jerusalem residents, whose status was revoked by Israel starting from 1967 and until the end of 2011 (according to data supplied by the Ministry of Interior).

The revocation of status of the residents of the Gaza Strip was executed on the basis of two simple criteria: a stay abroad for a period of seven years, or non-attendance at one of the censuses the military conducted in the Gaza Strip in 1981 and 1988. Residents who fit one of these two criteria were automatically assigned a "ceased residency status" – the military term for status revocation. Thus, without a hearing, without an individual review of their case, and without notice – either prior or subsequent – they lost their status in their homeland.

HaMoked again reiterates that the revocation of status of residents of the Occupied Palestinian Territories was in contravention of international law and a severe violation of the right of protected persons to live in their homeland. HaMoked calls on Israel to restore the status to all Palestinians whose residency was revoked in this manner, and allow them and their families to return to their homeland.