Israel's office responsible for occupied Palestine's lands has revised its draconian visa rules draft, delaying them for a month.
[File picture] The amended rules will now come into effect on October 20, according to the new draft, for a two-year pilot period.
(AP)
Israel has delayed until next month new rules on visas for the occupied West Bank and dropped at least two controversial aspects relating to relationships, a day before the measures were due to be implemented.
The planned rules had stipulated that foreign passport holders notify Israeli authorities within 30 days of starting a relationship with someone holding residency in the occupied West Bank.
Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), the Israeli defence ministry body responsible for Palestinian civil affairs, on Sunday published a revised text which removed the paragraph demanding they be emailed about new relationships.
The original text had also said foreign spouses of Palestinians would initially be granted three or six-month permits, with most then required to leave the occupied West Bank for six months before obtaining a new permit.
The requirement to remain outside the West Bank for six months does not appear in the draft published on Sunday.
READ MORE:Emigres flock to Palestine as Israel prepares to impose 'draconian' rules
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nufBpHmWhtQ[/embed]
'Preventing families living together'
But Israeli rights group HaMoked alleged that the amended text would still cause major dislocations in family lives.
"They have removed some of the most outrageous elements," said executive director Jessica Montell.
"But the basic problem remains: Israel will prevent thousands of families from living together, if one spouse is a foreign national, for blatantly political reasons of demographic engineering," she added.
Publication of the procedures in February had been met with legal challenges to the supreme court, led by HaMoked.
The original measures also placed major limits on academic life, with Israel coming under fire for quotas of 100 foreign lecturers and 150 students granted permission to live in the West Bank annually. These quotas do not appear in the new draft.
The amended rules will now come into effect on October 20, according to the new draft, for a two-year pilot period.
READ MORE:Israel approves plan to construct more settlement units in East JerusalemGoal to 'restrict' population growth
The new rules will also set quotas for academic exchange programmes, allowing just 150 foreign professors and 100 students to attend Palestinian universities each year.
The proposed quotas drew a strong rebuke from the European Union, whose Erasmus+ exchange programme will be particularly hit.
In 2020, 366 European students and professors took part in courses in the occupied West Bank, significantly more than the overall quota for the next two years.
"While Israel greatly benefits from Erasmus+, the (European) Commission considers that it should facilitate and not hinder the access of students to Palestinian universities," Education Commissioner Mariya Gabriel said in July.
HaMoked's director Jessica Montell said international humanitarian law gave Israel the right as the "occupying force" in the West Bank to act in the name of its security and "for the well-being of the local population."
But she said the new regulations had "nothing to do with either", and that the ultimate goal of Israel was to "restrict the growth of the Palestinian population through family reunification".
READ MORE: US seeks Israel's explanation over closures of Palestine's NGOs
Source: TRTWorld and agencies
![[File picture] The amended rules will now come into effect on October 20, according to the new draft, for a two-year pilot period.](https://cdni0.trtworld.com/w960/h540/q75/139374_APOct_1662348170074.jpeg)
