Israel allows Israelis to enter into Gaza only in cases of "humanitarian need",
as it defines it. A family visit, even of immediate family, is not considered by Israel as a "humanitarian case", and cannot serve as grounds for allowing entry to Gaza. The formulation of the policy followed
Israel's undertaking to the High Court of Justice (HCJ), given in the framework of a series of
petitions by HaMoked which sought to allow regular family visits to Gaza by Israelis during Muslim and Christian holidays. For a period of several years, even in times of security unrest, Israel allowed such visits to take place, but has stopped them completely since Hamas took over Gaza in 2007. Given the extremely narrow criteria Israel has imposed on travel between Israel and Gaza, the ban on holiday family is critically harmful to the families divided between Israel and Gaza, and creates an unacceptable situation where children, parents, siblings and grandchildren are prevented from meeting each other for years on end.
On July 22, 2012,
HaMoked petitioned the High Court of Justice (HCJ), requesting to instruct Israel to allow Israeli residents and citizens, to visit together with their spouses and children, their relatives in Gaza during Id Al-Fitr. This is the third petition HaMoked has filed since 2007 for the renewal of Id Al-Fitr family visits.
The HCJ struck out the first petition and
rejected the second, without ordering the renewal of the visits; this, despite its determination that the ban on family visits "impinges on protected rights and causes severe harm".
On August 16, 2012, three days before the start of the holiday,
the HCJ rejected this third petition. The justices expressed their "sorrow for the prolonged separation between the petitioners and their relatives" and stated that "the pain is understandable and touches our heart, however we cannot assist the petitioners". The court added that "given the actual risks involved in allowing the visits, and given the fact that the respondents review their policy from time to time – there is no room for our intervention. Indeed, the petitioners' relatives are but short drive away from here. It is almost –
reach out your hand and touch them [Italics added: this is a quotation from an iconic Hebrew poem by Rachel]. And yet, the short driving distance seems as far away as a journey beyond the dark mountains".
Thus, for the fifth year in a row, Israel condemns its own residents and their families to remain within "touching distance" but unable to touch. HaMoked reasserts that denying travel between Israel and Gaza critically impinges on the basic and constitutional right of Israelis and their families to family life, and calls upon Israel to uphold its duty to ensure the human rights of Israelis and the fabric of family life they maintain – with their relatives in Gaza as well.
