Israel approves 5,000 family unification requests for Palestinians

Israeli occupation authorities have agreed to approve 5,000 family unification requests filed by Palestinians, the head of the Palestinian General Authority for Civil Affairs, Hussein Al-Sheikh, announced yesterday.

“We have reached an agreement with the Israeli government on the Palestinian families’ reunification file, to have 5,000 as a first batch in the road to finalising this file entirely in a prearranged timeframe,” Al-Sheikh said in a tweet.

Israeli Defence Minister, Benny Gantz, also said on Monday that Israel plans to legalise thousands of undocumented foreign nationals married to Palestinians as part of an overall Israeli strategy to strengthen the Palestinian Authority.

According to Gantz, some Gazans who have moved to the West Bank but retain out-of-date passes that identify them as residents of the enclave will also see their status updated.

The announcement came one day after a meeting between Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Gantz held in the city of Ramallah in the central occupied West Bank.

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