Israel's Permit Cancellations Leave Separated Families With No Legal Route to Reunify

After October 7, 2023, Israel canceled all permits allowing Palestinians from Gaza to reside or work in the West Bank, severing the only legal mechanism for family reunification across the territories. Day laborers and other resident categories lost status overnight. Ceasefire negotiations have produced no agreement to restore the permit system. For families split between Gaza and the West Bank—a common result of decades-long movement restrictions—the revocation hardened an already formidable separation into near permanence.