Legal briefing on the rights of stateless Palestinians in the UK September 2025 Furthermore, Palestine has limited ability to offer diplomatic protection or consular assistance to Palestinians outside Palestine.41 There are Palestinian missions in many countries, but, as noted, Palestine is not a sovereign, independent State and certain governmental functions, including the issuance of travel and identity documents and entry to the West Bank and Gaza, are restricted by Israel. While Palestinian missions abroad may issue travel documents to individuals of Palestinian origin, often referred to as ‘external-use only’ or ‘zero-number’ passports, these do not entitle the holder to lawfully enter and reside in the oPt as they lack an Israeli-issued ID number.42 (b) Lack of a Palestinian nationality law Palestine does not currently have a nationality law. While the 1968 Palestine National Charter defines who is considered Palestinian, this is not a nationality law.43 A nationality law would need to establish who is a citizen of the State of Palestine, how Palestinian citizenship is acquired and lost, and what constitutes proof of citizenship. There have been two later efforts by the Palestine Liberation Organisation and the Palestinian Authority, in 1995 and 2012, to establish a Palestinian nationality law, but both of these failed.44 In addition, the Palestinian Basic Law of 1997 – meant to be a temporary constitution until one could be drafted and adopted in an independent Palestinian State – discusses Palestinian nationality in broad terms but does not clearly define who is a Palestinian national. It states that ‘citizenship shall be regulated by law’ and thus anticipates a subsequent nationality law, which does not yet exist.45 The details of any future Palestinian nationality law remain unknown. For example, we do not know with certainty if such a law will confer Palestinian nationality to people of Palestinian origin whose families have lived outside Palestine since before 1947; or what proof of Palestinian ancestry might be required for people to register as Palestinian nationals, if registration will be required. Similarly, registration criteria, or practices regarding the conferral of identity documents to Palestinians, cannot replace the need for a nationality law in this context.46 While the Palestinian Authority may issue identity documents, the validity and efficacy of such documents outside of the territory is limited, and their issuance is restricted by Israel. The so called ‘passports’ issued by the Palestinian Authority should be considered travel documents rather than proof of nationality, given their issuance is premised on permission from Israeli authorities. The use of registration criteria is also not enough to define nationality, which requires clear legal rules for acquisition, loss, and transmission of nationality. Registration criteria applied by administrative authorities or 41 See List of Diplomatic Missions in Palestine & Palestinian Diplomatic Missions abroad at: https://www.embassyworldwide.com/country/palestine/. 42 Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, Undocumented Citizens in the Gaza Strip (2020). 43 Article 5 of the Charter defines Palestinians as: ‘those Arab nationals who, until 1947, normally resided in Palestine regardless of whether they were evicted from it or have stayed there. Anyone born, after that date, of a Palestinian father - whether inside Palestine or outside it - is also a Palestinian’: The Palestinian National Charter: Resolution of the Palestine National Council (1968). 44 This briefing does not provide a full history of Palestine and previous nationality laws, but focuses on whether Palestinians should currently be considered stateless. For a detailed consideration of the relevant history, see Susan Akram, ‘Palestinian Nationality and “Jewish” Nationality’ (fn 28) 194, 207-208. 45 ibid. The Palestinian Basic Law of 1997 was passed by the Palestinian Legislative Council in 1997 and ratified by then-President Yasser Arafat in 2002. The Oslo Accords also define who is eligible to vote in the West Bank and Gaza, but this does not constitute a nationality law. Palestine also has an electoral law, introduced by decree in 2007, which establishes eligibility for voting and sets out who is considered Palestinian for purposes of the electoral law. However, eligibility to vote does not necessarily equate with nationality. This is not a nationality law and does not establish definitively who is considered a national of Palestine. 46 Albanese and Takkenberg, Palestinian Refugees in International Law (fn 25) Part One (III), S. 3.2.2. See also Hungary, Supreme Court (Kúria), Judgment no. Kfv.II.38.067/2018/6 of 13 November 2019, in which the Supreme Court of Hungary acknowledged, at paragraph 16, that ‘a travel document is not always suited to prove nationality’. 12