Adalah and Gisha Demand Immediate Halt to Harassment of Palestinians at Rafah, Warning of Apparent Efforts to Prevent Their Return to Gaza

Adalah – The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel and Gisha – Legal Center for Freedom of Movement sent an urgent letter to Israeli officials — the Minister of Defense, the Attorney General, and the Military Advocate General — demanding an immediate end to the harassment and unlawful restrictions imposed on Palestinian residents seeking to return to Gaza through the Rafah Crossing.

    CLICK HERE to read the [Hebrew] letter

The letter follows the reopening of the Rafah crossing in early February 2026. Aside from a brief period during the ceasefire (1 February 2025 – 17 March 2025), the crossing remained closed from 7 May 2024, until early February 2026. This prolonged closure prevented residents—including the wounded and the sick—from accessing essential medical treatment abroad. It also blocked the return of thousands of Palestinians who were forced to leave Gaza or were stranded outside of Gaza following relentless Israeli military assaults, which have continued for over two years.

Despite the official announcement that the crossing would open in both directions—entry and exit—data indicates that Israel requires prior authorization for anyone seeking to cross and is imposing severe restrictions on movement. In practice, only a negligible number of those who left Gaza during the war have been permitted to re-enter. Furthermore, the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) announced that residents who were outside Gaza at the outbreak of the war would be barred from returning.

Media reports cited in the organizations’ letter indicate that on one specific day, only 12 people — all women and children — were permitted to return, instead of the expected 50 persons per day, without any explanation. Additional testimonies referenced in these reports describe the treatment of returnees as abusive and degrading, including blindfolding, handcuffing, threats, and the confiscation of personal property. The reports further indicate that some residents were allegedly transported within the Strip by armed militias operating in coordination with the Israeli military. According to these accounts, individuals underwent prolonged interrogations involving personal questioning and pressure to provide information, under threat of their own arrest or the arrest of family members.

Adalah and Gisha emphasized that these practices are designed to instill fear and deter residents from returning to their homes: "The testimonies and the military’s conduct suggest that these actions are intended not only to humiliate and harm residents returning to their homes—which is inherently prohibited conduct—but also to intimidate and sow fear among those seeking to return to Gaza. There is a serious concern that this is a clear attempt to deter the population and frustrate the return of Palestinians to Gaza."

The organizations argued that under international law, the right of residents to return to their homeland is absolute. Preventing the return of residents, imposing preconditions, and subjecting them to harassment and threats may constitute the crime of forcible transfer of a population, which is prohibited under the Geneva Conventions and constitutes a war crime. Furthermore, such acts may amount to crimes against humanity when committed as part of a widespread or systematic policy directed against a civilian population.

In light of the above, the organizations demanded that Israeli authorities immediately cease all measures obstructing the return of Palestinian residents to their homes in Gaza, rescind all preconditions and abusive practices against returning residents, and act in full compliance with international law.