FA, a permanent resident in Jerusalem married RA, who lives in Gaza, in 1990. At the time, travel between Israel and the Gaza Strip was free, and did not require permits. After Israel toughened regulations for travel to Gaza, FA received permits issued under the "divided families" procedure, set to formalize the entry to Gaza of Israeli residents and citizens married to Gaza Palestinians. All a...

During and following operation "Defensive Shield", the Israeli military detained thousands of Palestinian residents. As the Israeli authorities did not uphold their duty to inform detainees' families as to the fate of their loved ones, many families requested HaMoked's assistance in locating them. Acting on their behalf, HaMoked contacted the military's incarceration control center, responsible...

FJ, an Israeli resident, lives with her husband, a resident of the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT), and their five children in the Jerusalem neighborhood of a-Tur. In 2006, FJ applied for family unification with her husband. The Ministry of Interior rejected the request on "security grounds" due to the fact that the husband's nephew had committed a suicide bombing. This, however, does no...

At around midday on February 4, 1998, three Palestinian minors, 14-16 year old, were street hawking in the Oranim junction in the Katamon neighborhood in Jerusalem. A border police patrol vehicle, driving the next shift officers to their various positions in the area. The vehicle pulled up close to the junction, two border police officers got out, seized the boys for no reason, and forced them ...

In the early hours of November 3, 2002, 19 year old MKh, and AD, a minor under 15, both residents of the village of Budrus, went herding their families' goats. Near the village houses, they were stopped by officials acting for the Flora and Fauna Supervision Unit, a governmental agency. The officials asserted the animals had been found herding in the firing range of a military encampment, about...

In early November, 1992, several members of the Israeli security forces were killed by Palestinians within a short period of time. On December 16, 1992, the Government of Israel, decided, in complete secrecy, to deport from the West Bank and the Gaza Strip hundreds of Palestinians "inciting acts of terror." The deportation was designated temporary, not exceeding two years, and could be carried ...

As part of its efforts to isolate the Gaza Strip, Israel adopted a policy of restricting the freedom of movement between Israel and the Gaza Strip. The policy was toughened with the outbreak of the second intifada, and as part of it, Israel rejected applications of Israelis who sought to enter Gaza for whatever reason, including for family visits, participation in family celebrations or even ta...

AA is a Jerusalem resident who lives with her husband and children in Rafah in the Gaza Strip. Her stay in Gaza is arranged through the "divided families procedure" which permits Israelis to remain with their spouses in the Gaza Strip, subject to receiving military permits. For years, AA would enter Israel with her minor children to visit her family in Jerusalem. In the summer of 2008, the mili...

In March 2009, NA, a Jerusalem resident, filed a claim with the National Insurance Institute (NII) to realize her entitlement for a disabled child benefit for AA, her mentally disabled daughter. The daughter is extremely dependent on her mother and requires help in performing daily activities, far beyond the norm for her age, but despite that, the NII officials dismissed the claim on the ground...

On the night between July 18th and 19th, 2002, Israeli forces raided the homes of several families in the Nablus area and arrested several men, claiming in each case that a son was wanted by Israel. Among the detainees in the raid were several of the A family and the father and eldest son of the J family from the village of Tell. The J family house is a two storey building that serves as the ma...

NH, a resident of Jerusalem, was married in 1980 and moved to live with her husband in the USA. Over the years, she had seven children and acquired American citizenship. She took care to maintain her ties with Jerusalem, her city of birth, and stayed in the city for long periods during her visits. In time, her relationship with her husband, who was violent towards her, deteriorated, and she div...

HH, born 1944, lives in Bitunya in the West Bank. She was never interrogated or arrested. Her elderly and ailing mother lived in Jordan. In November 2009, HH sought to visit her mother, then well into her eighties, whom she had not seen for the previous two years, but she was prevented by the Israeli authorities from exiting at the Allenby Bridge border crossing. Her son went to the Ramallah Di...

ZM and her daughter, JM, are residents of East Jerusalem. ZM is blind from birth, and so needs her daughter constantly at her side. In fact, she never leaves home alone. Their family is poor and struggling–JM's husband earns low wages, working as a construction laborer, and is hardly ever at home. ZM's own mother is a 68 year old widow who lives alone in the Gaza Strip. In January 2010, after Z...

AS, originally from Hebron, divorced his wife and moved with his three children to the Shu'fat refugee camp within the limits of Jerusalem. His ex-wife moved to Jordan, and maintains minimal contact with her children. AS married a Jerusalem resident in 2005 and they have been living in Jerusalem with their daughters and his children from the previous marriage. The Sharia Court awarded the stepm...

On September 28, 1996, the day of western wall tunnel incident, RS from Beit Ula discovered that his 18 month old son was running a high fever. The infant was diagnosed with blood cancer a month before, and had started receiving a course of chemotherapy at the Ein Karem Hadassah University Hospital. When the infant was released from  hospital after another treatment session, the medical staff i...

BS was born in Jerusalem in 1991 to an Israeli resident mother and a father who is a resident of the West Bank, and was soon registered in the Palestinian population registry. After living for several years in the village of Ni'lin in the West Bank, the family returned to Kafr 'Aqab in Jerusalem. In 2004, the mother applied to the Ministry of Interior to register her five children, including B...

OD, an East Jerusalem resident, born 1946, recognized as a homeless person by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Social Services, has been living in various temporary lodgings and on the street since 1991. OD suffers from chronic medical problems, for which he was hospitalized in medical facilities on several occasions between 2007 and 2009. In 2005, the Ministry of Interior revoked OD's resid...

WA's family lives in the al-Salem neighborhood of Rafah. On the night of October 17, 2003, WA, then two months after childbirth, felt unwell. Her husband wanted to get her to the hospital, but when they reached their car, soldiers opened fire at them. Two of her husband's brothers rushed over to assist them, but they were all hit by the next volley of bullets. An ambulance arrived to the scene ...

In 1996, S'A, an Israeli resident applied for family unification for her husband, H'A who was born in 1941 in the village of Al 'Isawiya, inside Israel since the annexation in 1967. It took the Ministry of Interior seven years to accept the application. During those seven years, the family suffered from the uncertainty regarding the status of H'A – the sole provider for the family – who was exp...

Under both Israeli law and international humanitarian law, Israel must return the bodies of dead Palestinians to their families. However, Israel continues to evade its obligation and to mistreat the families, under the protection of the court. After years of inconsistent policy, dating back to 1967, Israel ceased to return the bodies of Palestinians to their families in late 1994, with rare exc...