The Israeli government announced on Tuesday, 19 October, that it had approved residency registration requests of approximately 4,000 Palestinians who had been habituating in the West Bank without official status for years, Reuters reported.
Israeli defence minister Benny Gantz's decision, who calls it a part of his "policy to strengthen the economy and improve the lives of Palestinians", said it will impact around 2,800 former residents of Gaza who who fled after Hamas seized control of the region in 2007.
The other 1,200 undocumented Palestinians were those who had been always residing in West Bank.
Israel’s present coalition government that terminated Benjamin Netanyahu's tenure in office that lasted over a decade, has stated that it wants to improve lives and boost livelihoods in the West Bank.
A high-ranking official of the Palestinian Authority (PA) in West Bank tweeted that the 4,000 Palestinians had "obtained their right to citizenship", whose residential addresses would be changed to officially recognised ones, and that they would also receive ID cards, The Hindu reported.
The Palestinian National Authority is permitted to have partial civilian control in certain areas of both Gaza and the West Bank.
Since Israel won the Six-Day War in 1967 against Arab nations, it has illegally occupied the West Bank according to many United Nations resolutions.
(With inputs from Reuters and The Hindu)
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