Thousands Stuck in Gaza Without Identity Cards
As many as 35,000 Palestinians residing in Gaza are unable to leave the territory until Israel issues them identity cards.
When Safaa Hasanat, 40, got married and moved from Saudi Arabia to the Gaza Strip in 1999, she didn’t realize she was putting herself in an open-air prison with almost a life sentence. As Hasanat does not have a Palestinian identity card, she has not been able to leave Gaza since.
According to Riad al-Zeitouniya, the head of Gaza's Civil Affairs Office, Hasanat is only one of up to 35,000 Palestinians who were born in other countries and now reside in Gaza with no identity cards issued by the Israeli-run Palestinian registration. Consequently, these people live in Gaza with few rights, most important of which is the right of movement to any other country, including even the West Bank.
The origin of the problem stems back to the 1980s when hundreds of Palestinian families made it to Gaza without having received a reunion document, which entitles inhabitants to an identity card as sanctioned by the Israeli occupation.
A Palestinian non-identity card holder is permitted to apply for a reunion document if a first-degree relative holds an identity card.
