Press Statement
Restrictions on Freedom of Movement at the Rafah Crossing Violate International Law and Deprive Thousands of Palestinians of Their Rights, Particularly the Right to Participate in Parliamentary Elections
Palestinians are awaiting the forthcoming national democratic milestone, which comes after a 20-year absence and entails the holding of Palestinian legislative elections, scheduled to take place on 28 November 2026, in accordance with the provisions of Decree-Law No. (1) of 2007 on General Elections and its 2026 amendments, amid the ongoing genocide and restrictions imposed on freedom of movement and mobility. As the Civil Campaign for Election Monitoring calls on the international community to lift the blockade imposed on the Gaza Strip and protect the freedom of movement of its residents, it reaffirms the right of Palestinians stranded outside the Gaza Strip to return and stresses their right to political participation and to take part in the governance of their country.
A major legal and humanitarian challenge arises from the deprivation of thousands of Palestinians stranded abroad - particularly in Egypt, including patients and travellers - of their inherent right to vote and participate in political life, as well as their right to return, move and travel freely. Their numbers are estimated to be in the tens of thousands.
This deprivation is a direct consequence of the military control exercised by Israeli occupation forces over the crossings into and out of the Gaza Strip, foremost among them the Rafah land crossing, throughout the ongoing crime of genocide. This control includes determining the number of people permitted to travel to and enter the Gaza Strip, while thousands of patients and stranded Palestinians awaiting return remain registered with the Palestinian Embassy and the relevant coordination authorities.
Palestinians who are permitted to return to the Gaza Strip are subjected to harsh procedures, including ill-treatment and degrading treatment, searches, confiscation of their medicines and other personal belongings, and other forms of cruel and humiliating treatment, in clear violation of international human rights law. These practices raise serious concerns on the occupation forces intentions to push Palestinian men and women not to think about returning as part of plans to forcibly displace them and empty the Gaza Strip and the occupied Palestinian territory more broadly.
It is also important to note the increasing number of cases in which the occupying authorities refuse to allow Palestinians stranded outside the Gaza Strip to return, despite having informed them that their names had been included on the lists of returnees. Upon reaching the crossing after an arduous journey, they are sent back to the Egypt. In other cases, the occupying authorities reject their names from the outset. Such conduct constitutes a war crime and violates the rules of international humanitarian law and international human rights law.
In light of this major challenge, the Civil Campaign for Election Monitoring, while calling on the international community to fulfil its legal obligations to halt Israeli violations and enable Palestinians to exercise their right to freedom of movement and mobility, including their right to leave their country and return to it, calls on the Palestinian Government to instruct the Central Elections Commission to take the necessary measures to enable all Palestinians stranded outside the Gaza Strip to exercise their democratic right to choose their representatives in Parliament and run for office.
The Campaign considers that while such a measure is necessary as an exceptional response under the current circumstances, it must also become an established measure for the future. Under no circumstances should citizens who study or work abroad be deprived of their right to participate in political life and in the governance of their country.
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