North Gaza Project

One method for facilitating migration would be the development of a digital passport. The purpose of describing the digital passport is not to mandate this tool, but to describe one potential and practical means of managing the immigration process. The digital passport could take the form of an app with the following attributes:

  1. It would be downloadable exclusively through Israeli telecom providers. This would be necessary to prevent local telecom providers from knowing who has downloaded the app. Considering the narrowness of Gaza and the ability to deploy electronic resources all around and above the territory, extending the reach of these providers should be feasible.
  2. It would enable individuals and families to upload relevant documentation for consideration by a North Gaza immigration committee.
  3. It would issue approval for immigration to individuals and/or families.
  4. It would ping Israeli telecom providers when an approved passport holder is connected to an Israeli telecom network. This would enable Israeli forces to identify individuals and or families approaching the border. Note that this is not about border crossings, but anywhere along the border.
  5. It would also be available to Palestinians outside of Gaza. In these cases, it would be freely downloadable and would be presentable at normal border crossings in a way similar to the coronavirus Ramzor app in Israel.

The Digital Passport process would be the following:

For Gaza Residents

  1. It would be downloaded while in connection with Israeli networks.
  2. Documentation would be filled out, to be considered by the Israeli security services.
  3. If immigration is approved, the app would be notified (while connected to Israeli networks).
  4. Individuals ready to migrate would approach any border. Israeli networks would triangulate their exact positions.
  5. Israeli forces in the area would provide covering protection while assessing that the migrants do not have arms or explosives.
    1. This could involve moving them into an enclosed area on Israeli territory where they would be protected from Palestinian militants but not a threat to Israeli interviewers.
  6. Identity and security checks would be conducted.
  7. The individuals and or families would be moved to the NGP, assuming everything was approved.

For Other Palestinians and Gaza Residents

  1. Steps 1-3 above would be carried out.
  2. Migrants would approach the Egyptian border or an Israeli border crossing (including land, sea or air).
  3. The app would be used to inform immigration authorities of their destination.
  4. If arriving via Egypt, the Egyptian border forces would transport them to a predesignated Israeli-Egyptian border crossing for an assessment similar to 6-7 above.

If arriving via Israeli, Israeli security services would transport them to a predesignated area for assessments similar to 6-7 above.

Resources

Resources necessary to develop the digital passport would include the following:

  1. Application developers able to build the app. This could be very quickly executed.
  2. Selected Israeli immigration and security experts to supply the necessary questions and reviewers. In terms of budget and personnel, this would be an expense borne by Israel and not the NGP.
  3. Development of a mobile cage system to hold migrants during initial security review (for weapons and/or explosives).
  4. Coordination with Egyptian border services.