For almost six years, Israel has prevented family unification between Palestinian residents of the Occupied Territory and their spouses from abroad, and has prohibited family members from visiting the West Bank or the Gaza Strip.
In their recently issued report, B'Tselem and HaMoked: Center for the Defence of the Individual pointed out that, during this period, Palestinians have submitted more than 120,000 requests for family unification, which await processing.
Israel's policy has created a harsh reality for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians: spouses are unable to live under the same roof, children are forced to grow up in single-parent families though their parents want to live together, people do not leave the Occupied Territory to go abroad for medical treatment because Israel may not issue them a new visitor's permit, women from abroad married to residents of the Occupied Territory face the constant threat of deportation, the report said.
B'Tselem and HaMoked called on the government of Israel to begin immediately to process requests for family unification and visitor's permits.
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