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| Palestinian passport | |
|---|---|
 Cover of an ordinary Palestinian passport | |
| Type | Passport |
| Issued by |  Ministry of Interior |
| Purpose | Identification |
| Eligibility | Holders of Palestinian ID who live in areas under the control ofPalestinian Authority |
| Expiration | 5 years after acquisition |
| Cost | JOD 35[1] |
ThePalestinian Authority passport (Arabic:جواز سفر السلطة الفلسطينية) is apassport issued since April 1995 by thePalestinian Authority toPalestinians inPalestine for the purpose of international travel. The passport has been issued in 1995 based on the agreements established in the 1993Oslo Accord.[2] The passport is issued to Palestinians who hold a Palestinian ID and who live in theWest Bank andGaza.Palestinian diaspora, who do not hold Palestinian ID cards, are unable to obtain this passport due to security restrictions imposed by the Israeli government.[3][4][5]
The passport issuance is subject to approval from Israel.[6][4] Israel asserts that the restriction is required for security concerns.[5]
Between 1924 and 1948, the term "Palestinian passport" referred to the travel documents that were available to residents ofBritish Mandate Palestine. Issued by the High Commissioner for Palestine, they were officially titled, "British passport, Palestine". These passports became invalid with the termination of the British mandate on 15 May 1948.[7] Israeli and Jordanian passports were offered to former British Mandate subjects according to the citizenship they acquired in the aftermath of the1948 Arab-Israeli War. A significant number of Palestinian Arabs, especially in the Gaza Strip and those who found refuge in Syria and Lebanon, remained stateless, as Egypt, Syria and Lebanon did not allow them to integrate as citizens.
The Egyptian-controlledAll-Palestine Government issued All-Palestine passports between 1949 and 1959 to Palestinian residents of the Gaza Strip and Egypt. However, passport holders were not permitted to move freely into Egypt. In the meantime,Transjordan annexed theWest Bank and Palestinian residents of the West Bank became citizens of Jordan, and were entitled to a Jordanian passport.
After the 1967Six-Day War, during which Israel captured the West Bank from Jordan, Palestinian Arabs living there continued to have the right to apply for Jordanian passports and live in Jordan. Palestinian refugees actually living in Jordan were also considered full Jordanian citizens. In July 1988, Jordan severed all legal and administrative ties with the West Bank. Any Palestinian living in Jordan would remain a Jordanian citizen; but residents of the West Bank would not.
Jordan continued to issue passports to Palestinians in the West Bank, but they were for travel purposes only and not as indication of citizenship. Palestinians in the West Bank who had regular Jordanian passports were issued with temporary ones upon expiration of the old ones, and entry into Jordan by Palestinians became time-limited and considered for tourism purposes only.
On 2 April 1995, two years after theOslo Accords of 1993, the Palestinian Authority started issuing Palestinian Authority passports to the public in the self-ruling areas of Gaza and Jericho. These passports retained the personal ID number issued by theIsraeli Civil Administration.[8]
Starting March 2023, thePalestinian Ministry of Interior (responsible for issuing Palestinian passports) started issuingbiometric passports. The passport contains a digitized photo, fingerprints and signature of the holder.[9]
Palestinians regard the passport as a "crucial symbol of nationhood".[10] The recognition of the passports by other countries has been cited as evidence ofrecognition by them of the State of Palestine.[citation needed]
As of 1997, Palestinian passports were not issued in the name of the State of Palestine.[11] Some countries, including the United States, recognize Palestinian Authority passports as travel documents, though the recognition of the passports does not imply recognition by them of citizenship, since they are not issued by a government which they recognize.[4] Egypt, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates have indicated only (in May 2002) that the passports, along with valid visas or other necessary papers, would allow their holders to travel to their countries.[4]
There are three types of Palestinian passport, which are issued by thePalestinian National Authority, and they are as follows:
As of June 2024, the Palestinian passport allows entry to 53 countries and territories without a visa or by visa on arrival, ranking the Palestinian passport at 91st in terms of travel freedom according to theHenley Passport Index, which ties with both theLibyan andNorth Korean passport.
The document contains a note on the second page (inside of the cover) stating:[5]
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