RAMALLAH, West Bank, 28 September 2007 — The head of Palestinian Civil Affairs Commission, Hussein Al-Sheikh, yesterday said that Israeli authorities rejected family unification files related to the residents of Gaza Strip. Sheikh said in a statement that the Palestinian Authority didn’t receive from Israeli side “reasonable explanation for this collective punishment.”
Palestinian sources said that this Israeli step comes after Israeli security cabinet last week declared Gaza Strip a “hostile entity.” Family reunification is one of the most sensitive social issues in the Palestinian territories. Palestinians from the West Bank or Gaza Strip often get married to Palestinian refugees living in Jordan or other Arab states.
Spouses, mostly the wives, often enter the Palestinian territories by visiting permits and are considered illegal residents, despite having children. However, Israeli authorities promised to reconsider the cases of more than 50,000 families that applied for reunification from the West Bank.
According to Sheikh, the Israeli authorities will approve the first group of reunion applications during Ramadan, but the number of beneficiaries still unknown.
In a related development, the Israeli Center for the Defense of the Individual “HaMoked” said that the Jewish state would inform its High Court of Justice within 60 days if it will change its policy on family unification in the West Bank and Gaza.
HaMoked added that High Court’s justices strongly criticized the policy, which has been in force for seven years, and ordered the state to submit an additional response, which may include a change in the policy.
Meanwhile, hundreds of gunmen from the shadowy Army of Islam marched in a funeral for five Gaza militants yesterday, firing in the air in their first ever public appearance in such large numbers. The five Army of Islam members buried yesterday were among a total of 11 Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes over two days. The Israeli military said it has targeted militants involved in rocket fire on Israeli border towns.
The Army of Islam, an offshoot of Gaza’s ruling Hamas group, has been linked to the March kidnapping of BBC journalist Alan Johnston, since released, and the June 2006 capture of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. Individual members have made public statements, but the size of the group was never apparent.
However, some 300 Army of Islam gunmen marched in yesterday’s funeral procession for five members killed in an Israeli airstrike. Sporting long beards and black headbands, many wore dark robes, a style of dress more common in Afghanistan or Pakistan than in Gaza.
