Israel will issue identification cards indicating permanent residency status to 2,000 Palestinians living in Jerusalem and the West Bank who meet certain criteria. The cards will allow Palestinian families to reunite, some for the first time in 13 years.

However, there are complications, many involving the Israeli Nationality Law of 2003, which is still in effect. The law prevents family reunification when one spouse is a resident of an Israeli city and the other is a Palestinian from the West Bank or Jerusalem and can only visit by obtaining temporary Israeli permits.

“The decision to allow the reunification of 2,000 Palestinians living in Israel and Jerusalem is a wonderful yet insufficient step, knowing that the number of Palestinians who have permits to stay in Israel is estimated at 1.46 million people. They are denied the Israeli identity card that allows them to enjoy all of their social and legal rights, namely family reunification," said Jamal Zahalka, an Israeli Knesset member for the joint Arab List and leader of the parliamentary National Democratic Assembly bloc.

Authorities will grant 2,000 blue Israeli identity cards only to those Palestinians living in Jerusalem and the West Bank who have held, since 2003, permits to stay in the Israeli cities and regions of Jaffa, Haifa, Acre, Jerusalem, the Triangle, the Galilee and the Negev.