Palestinian document gambit could leave thousands stranded

RAMALLAH, Palestinian Territories: The Palestinian Authority said Friday it will start issuing personal documents for Palestinians without having the papers validated by Israel as in the past.
The move follows Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas’s announcement last month of an end to all agreements with Israel over its plans to annex parts of the occupied West Bank.
“We are now registering our citizens in our own databases, without sending them to Israel as we did before, according to instructions not to work with Israel on this subject,” Palestinian Authority interior ministry spokesman Ghassan Nimr told AFP.
Under the 1993 Oslo peace accords, the PA has issued identity cards, birth certificates and other documents to the approximately five million residents of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
But they were only considered valid after endorsement by Israel, which controls all movement in and out of the West Bank and from Gaza through Israeli territory.
“We are working on setting up a new framework based on coordination with the international community to allow us to move freely without the approval of Israel,” said Nimr, without giving details.
The end of coordination with Israel on the issue has not yet had any impact on Palestinian travel due to closure of the borders of Israel and the Palestinian Territories due to coronavirus restrictions.
But when crossings are reopened thousands of Palestinians could find themselves stranded.

Palestinian document gambit could leave thousands stranded