After the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack, Israel canceled all permits that allowed Palestinians from Gaza to live or work in the West Bank. Those permits were the legal permission slip that let people move between the two territories. When Israel revoked them all at once, thousands of people became stuck—unable to return to families on the other side, according to U.S. State Department reporting.

One day you have permission to be somewhere. The next day, that permission is gone. There is no process to get it back. That is what happened to Palestinians from Gaza living in the West Bank. Some were day laborers earning money for their families. Some had other jobs or residency rights. Overnight, they lost all of them.

To understand why this matters, you need to know that Gaza and the West Bank are separated by Israeli military control. Israel manages who can move between them. Human Rights Watch says Israel's blockade on Gaza—which has been in place since 2007—is unlawful under international law. It has caused serious harm to Palestinian civilians, especially children. Since October 7, movement restrictions have gotten much tighter.

Families Stuck on Both Sides

The permit cancellations happened alongside a much larger pattern: many Palestinians have been forced out of their homes by the war. In November 2024, Human Rights Watch published a report called 'Hopeless, Starving, and Besieged': Israel's Forced Displacement of Palestinians in Gaza documenting how Israeli military actions and evacuation orders have forced many Palestinians to move within Gaza itself. The report says this displacement was deliberate and unlawful. Israel disputes this claim.

But the separation between Gaza and the West Bank is different. Gazans can sometimes move to different parts of Gaza, even if it is hard. Palestinians stuck in the West Bank cannot leave because they have no permit. Their families in Gaza cannot leave because of the blockade. Both sides are trapped.

Why This Happened

This separation did not start in October 2023. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has gone on for decades, according to Amnesty International. The system of permits and checkpoints has been built over many years. In 2007, Hamas took control of Gaza, and Israel imposed a blockade that is still in place today.

Understanding this history helps explain why permit cancellations are so damaging. The permit system is how Israel controls Palestinian movement. When it is shut down, there is no other legal way to cross between territories. There is no joint Palestinian government that could work out a compromise. The Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and Hamas in Gaza do not work together and govern different populations with different rules.

Think about what this means for real people: A father cannot see his children. A family cannot attend a funeral. A worker loses the job that paid for the household. Each story is different, but together they add up to thousands of separated families with no way to reunite.

Whether all of this breaks international law is argued between Israel and human rights groups. But everyone agrees: right now, there is no legal path for these families to get back together.

Anything that changes would depend on a ceasefire agreement. If Israel and others agree to a ceasefire, they might also agree to restore some permit system. But that has not happened yet. So the families separated by October 7 remain separated today.