Israel annuls Palestinian residency rights

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JERUSALEM, June 12 (UPI) -- Israel stripped 240,000 Palestinians of residency rights from 1967 through 1994, preventing them from returning home, government statistics showed Tuesday.

Haaretz reported, using data released by the Defense Ministry's Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories in response to a freedom of information request filed by Hamoked-The Center for the Defense of the Individual, 100,000 residents of Gaza and 140,000 residents of the West Bank lost their residency rights from after the Six Days War to the establishment of the Palestinian Authority.

Hamoked said 44,730 Gazans lost their residency rights because they were absent from the territory for seven years or more and 61,979 others lost their residency because they failed to respond to the 1981 and 1988 censuses.

Many of those who lost their residency rights were students or young professionals have since died, but others were granted the right of return with the establishment of the Palestinian Authority in 1994 or for other reasons, Haaretz said.

The newspaper said the number of Palestinians currently listed as having lost their residency rights is estimated at 130,000.

Israeli authorities are applying a similar standard to Palestinians living in East Jerusalem, stripping them of residency rights if they live abroad for seven years or more, the paper said.