Gaza -

Palestinian Suhair Hanoun did not know when she signed a document called a “stability declaration” that she had agreed to permanent residency in the Gaza Strip and to finally waive her right to return to her family and hometown in the West Bank.

Suhair is not an exceptional case. Rather, her story is similar to the stories of other women born in the West Bank who got married and moved to the Gaza Strip years ago, and found themselves forced to make this harsh choice, by signing the "deportation document", as described by the Israeli human rights organization "Maslak", which said it amounted to to a "war crime".

This document consists of one paper written in Arabic, in legal language, which makes signing it obligatory to waive the right to move from the Gaza Strip to live in the West Bank.

Under the pressure of the need to return to their children and husbands, dozens of Palestinian women were forced to sign the "stability" document in Gaza (Reuters)

forced deportation

Suheir Hanoun, 46, was born in the city of Nablus in the northern West Bank. She married a resident of Gaza in 1999, and moved to live with him by virtue of customs, and because Israel does not allow the people of Gaza to move to live in the West Bank.

While it seems a little easier for some Palestinians from the West Bank - the majority of whom are women - to move and settle in the Strip out of marriage.

Early last year, Suhair was on her way to visit her family in Nablus through the Beit Hanoun (Erez) crossing, which connects the Gaza Strip with the rest of the occupied Palestinian territories, which are under Israeli control.

At the crossing, Suhair was forced to sign the document, and she told Al-Jazeera Net, "The document is in Hebrew with a few words in Arabic. It was not clear to me, and I did not realize its consequences, and they did not explain to me its content and dimensions, and the result is that it severed my ties with my family."

There is no accurate count of the number of women who had to sign this document, but the Israeli human rights organization says that since 2010 it has dealt with no less than 80 files of cases similar to the case of Suhair Hanoun.

Israel does not allow Gaza residents to reach the West Bank except in a very narrow scope, and according to special and limited permits it issues for urgent humanitarian needs such as cases of death and severe illness, and not on a permanent basis.

Siege and punitive policies have not ended.. The occupation closes the Beit Hanoun "Erez" crossing in the northern #Gaza Strip to travel movement, which deprives Palestinians of meeting their necessary and urgent humanitarian needs


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Heba Akila |

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Gaza #News pic.twitter.com/YLLVKU9iPl

- Al-Jazeera Channel (@AJArabic) June 11, 2021

In Suhair's case, she obtained an Israeli permit in early 2021 to visit her brother, whose health condition necessitated open-heart surgery, and after years during which she was unable to obtain permits for other occasions, such as her father's death in 2008, and her brother's marriage in 2016.

Suhair said, "I was anxious to see my sick brother and my family members, and I did not realize the seriousness of the stability document."

She added, "I am often very careful, and if they told me that the document meant my waiver of the right to return and live in the West Bank, I would not have signed it at all, even if the price for that was depriving me of the visit I had waited for 10 years."

Suhair was able to visit her families in Nablus for the last time in 2011, and she obtained the permit after the intervention of the human rights organization concerned with freedom of movement "Maslak", with the aim of visiting her sick mother.

Suhair, upon her arrival at the Erez crossing - on her way back to Gaza from her last visit last year - was surprised by an Israeli employee pressing her and using sign language to sign a similar document, and she found herself forced to return to her husband and four children in Gaza.

With the exception of a communication relationship provided by social media platforms, Suhair's children have not been able to visit their uncles in the West Bank for about 18 years.

Suheir describes her situation as being "expelled," saying, "The living reality in Gaza is miserable. A few months ago, I applied for a permit to return with my children and live in the West Bank, but Israel refused, because of my signature on the settlement document."

A Palestinian woman presents her official papers at the Erez checkpoint, where women are considered the most victims of forced deportation to Gaza (Reuters)

Brutal system

Suhair's file is one of the files that the "Maslak" organization is following up on. Al Jazeera Net contacted the headquarters of the Israeli human rights organization in Haifa, and an official in it contented itself with sending a newly issued detailed report as a comment from it on the Israeli action.

In the report, the organization described the "Stability Document" as a "brutal regime" of forcible deportation of Palestinians from the West Bank who live in Gaza, and the majority of those affected are women.

The report said, "The manner in which Israel uses this system as a justification for banning the return of Palestinians, men and women, to live in the West Bank, even if they are registered as residents of the West Bank in the Palestinian population registry, constitutes in practice a forcible transfer and a serious violation of international law, which amounts to a war crime."

It saw this system as part of "Israeli policies over the years that aim to separate Gaza from the West Bank and serve void demographic and political goals."

The human rights organization accused Israel of exploiting the basic need of women to visit their families in the West Bank, and within the framework of the narrow humanitarian conditions it sets out to grant them the permit, in order to force them to sign the document.

In many cases, the report says, "women are forced to sign it under pressure and intimidation, as they are subjected to blackmail, and the signature is a condition for crossing, whether to visit their families in the West Bank or to return to their families in Gaza."

Maslak emphasized that "under this brutal regime, whoever refuses to sign the stability document will be prevented from leaving through the Erez crossing for any purpose."

The human rights organization relied on international law in the illegality of this document, and called on Israel to abolish this illegal regime immediately, and to stop the forcible transfer of Palestinians living under its occupation.

The biggest victim

Women affected by this document turn to the "Aisha Association for the Protection of Women and Children" in Gaza, for help.

According to Hiba al-Danaf, coordinator of the legal clinic in the association, signing the document has serious psychological and social repercussions for women and their families.

Al-Danaf told Al-Jazeera Net that "women are the biggest victims of this procedure, which amounts to a war crime, although it also includes men," adding that it is "a forcible deportation and arbitrary determination of residence."

This document - according to Al-Danf - is inconsistent with international laws and conventions, which grant every person the right to movement and to choose the appropriate place for his residence and life.

However, the occupation "denies the Palestinian of this right even within the borders of the occupied Palestinian territories."