Israeli authorities fail to check Palestinian permit holders return home

The Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) issues entry permits to Palestinians traveling into Israel, but has no mechanism to ensure they return home, it has emerged.

By DONNA RACHEL EDMUNDS
An Israeli solider looks at ID of a Palestinian man at a checkpoint near the West Bank city of Nablus January 10, 2018 (photo credit: REUTERS/MOHAMAD TOROKMAN)
An Israeli solider looks at ID of a Palestinian man at a checkpoint near the West Bank city of Nablus January 10, 2018
(photo credit: REUTERS/MOHAMAD TOROKMAN)
Israeli authorities are effectively handing out one-way entry permits to Palestinians living in Gaza and the West Bank, as they have no mechanism for ensuring the permit holders return home, pro-Israel watchdog Im Tirtzu has discovered.
The organization made the discovery when it submitted a Freedom of Information request to the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), inquiring how many permits had been issued and of which types.
"We do not have any procedure for supervising or ensuring the return of a permit holder to his or her place of residence," COGAT stated in their reply.
"A reality in which no one is tracking whether a resident of the Palestinian Authority or the Gaza Strip who received an official permit from the State of Israel returned home is horrendous," said Im Tirtzu CEO Matan Peleg.
"It's inconceivable that Israel's security agencies are operating with an 'everything will be okay' attitude while providing hundreds of thousands of one-way entry permits. This is a gamble on the lives of Israeli citizens, and the procedure needs to be changed immediately," said Peleg.
Between 2014 and 2019, COGAT issued 2,645,696 entry permits to residents living in areas run by the Palestinian Authority, and a further 335,807 to residents of the Gaza strip, according to figures released by the authority to Im Tirtzu.
Of those issued to West Bank residents, COGAT reported that 310,506 were work permits; 263,815 for escorting patients; 239,705 for medical needs; 236,875 for general trips; and 196,965 for visiting families on holidays.
Other reasons for granting permits included the 53,596 granted to allow people to visit security prisoners, 46,469 granted to attend Friday prayers, 21,410 granted for foreign travel, 16,542 granted for family reunification purposes, and 9,836 business permits.
Meanwhile, the largest category of permits granted to Gazans was for medical purposes, with 62,642 permits being issued during the five year time period for this reason. Escorting patients was the second largest category, for which purpose 57,925 permits were issued, while 28,227 business permits were granted to Gazans.
COGAT also granted Gazans 21,394 permits to travel abroad, 19,511 permits to pray on the Temple Mount, 7,410 permits for Friday prayers, and 7,738 for Christian holidays.

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Im Tirtzu asked COGAT how many Palestinians who entered Israel on one of these permits went on to be involved in acts of terrorism, but was told that only the Israel Police holds such records. According to Im Tirtzu, the Israel Police has yet to respond to their inquiry on this matter.


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