Human Rights Watch calls on Israel to lift restrictions on Palestinian residency rights

Read the report 'Forget About Him, He's Not Here: Israel’s Control of Palestinian Residency in the West Bank and Gaza' here

RAMALLAH, West Bank — A Gaza-born woman recently sneaked into her native land through a smugglers' tunnel because the legal route was blocked. A car mechanic who settled in the West Bank 15 years ago to raise a family lives in fear of deportation because his ID card says he's originally from Gaza.

They are among thousands of Palestinians who the New York-based Human Rights Watch says have had their lives disrupted by Israeli restrictions on residency in the West Bank and Gaza, territories captured by Israel in the June 1967 Mideast war and sought for a Palestinian state.

In a report issued Sunday, Human Rights Watch called on Israel to lift restrictions on residency, saying they are often arbritrary and violate international and human rights law, including the right to family life.

"The result has been to split families apart, to arbitrarily ban people from moving around and to arbitrarily prevent a large number of people from returning to their own homes," said the report's author, Bill Van Esveld. more

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