In 1967, with the onset of the occupation, Israel held a census in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Ever since, with the exception of children under 16, a person who is not listed in the population registry is able, allegedly, to acquire residency status only through the family-unification procedure. Although under the Oslo Accords the powers to administer the population registry in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) were officially transferred to the Palestinian Authority (PA), in fact, in all but exceptional cases, Israel prevents the unification of families in the OPT. Israel’s policy is based on the conception that residents of the OPT are not entitled to family unification and any approval granted is merely an act of benevolence on Israel’s part.
Israel’s freeze policy is driven by external political considerations, is in violation of the occupier's obligations under international law, and leads to a substantive infringement of the rights of tens of thousands of Palestinians who wish to live with their families in the West Bank.
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