Article 13 of the Entry into Israel Law grants the police the authority to deport Palestinians residing in Israel without a valid permit. The section states that before exercising the power, a hearing will be held for a deportation candidate and a reasoned decision will be made in writing. Nevertheless, residents of the Occupied Territories are often expelled from Israel in an undocumented manner, without being given the right to plea and without making a reasoned decision to do so, violating their basic rights, including their right to plea and due process.
On December 20, 2023, we sent legal correspondence the Deputy Attorney General and the Attorney General of the Police, together with the Refugee Rights Clinic at Tel Aviv University. In the correspondence, Attorney Reut Shaer from ACRI and Attorney Michal Rubinstein from the Clinic included testimonies regarding people who were cruelly and inhumanely deported. For example, a woman without legal status, 36 weeks pregnant, with 7 children, who lived in Israel for about 15 years after marrying an Israeli citizen. The woman arrived at Soroka Hospital and instead of being offered medical assistance, she was arrested by police. The police placed her in a patrol car and "threw" her at the nearest Dahariya checkpoint, despite her family not living in close proximity to the checkpoint. She was not brought to a police station, given a hearing or a legal document outlining the deportation. She was placed at the checkpoint alone in the evening, without resources or money to get her to safety. Her children in Israel were left without the primary caregiver on whom they depend.
We argued that the deportation authority is currently exercised without discretion, documentation or reasoning. Among other things, the hearing held for the deportee, if held at all, does not address any relevant considerations and special life circumstances, such as women who are the sole caregivers of young children, or LGBT Palestinians whose lives are at risk. We demanded that the deportation proceedings of residents of the Occupied Territories from Israel be regulated in accordance with section 13J of the Law in a designated procedure that would reflect the provisions of the law and their purpose, the weight of the protected interests on the agenda and the obligations of the State of Israel to protect the lives and well-being of those in its territory, to take into account the welfare of children, and to consider all relevant aspects of each case. The procedure must specify the manner in which the hearing process is held, what information must be collected before making a decision, under what conditions the hearing should be held, how the decision should be based and documented, and how the deportee can obtain it.