Whether a Palestinian holds a passport, and what kind, depends almost entirely on where they live and which authority governs that area. There is no single travel document covering Palestinians worldwide. Palestinian passports and travel documents fall into five distinct situations: a Palestinian Authority passport for registered residents of the West Bank and Gaza, an Israeli laissez-passer for East Jerusalem residents, a standard Israeli passport for Palestinian citizens of Israel, host-government travel papers for refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, and Egypt, and no document at all for many in the diaspora.
The Palestinian Authority Passport
Residents of the West Bank and Gaza who hold a Palestinian identity card, known as a hawwiya, can apply for a Palestinian Authority passport through the Palestinian Ministry of Interior. The document is valid for five years. Its legal basis is the 1995 Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement (Oslo II), in which Israel recognized “the validity of the Palestinian passports/travel documents issued by the Palestinian side to Palestinian residents of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.”1Economic Cooperation Foundation. Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip
The hawwiya is the gatekeeping requirement. Eligibility depends on appearing in the Palestinian population registry, which the PA administers and Israel maintains in a parallel copy.2Gov.il. Population Registry Changes to the rolls, including registering newborns or new residents, still involve coordination between the two sides, and Israeli authorities retain significant practical influence over who appears.
Most diaspora Palestinians cannot get this passport. They were never registered, or lost their registration after years abroad. Some Palestinian missions abroad can issue an “external use” passport to individuals who hold no other travel document, but availability is narrow and recognition weaker.3Palestinian General Delegation. Passport Issuance/Renewal
Travel Documents for East Jerusalem Residents
Palestinians living in East Jerusalem sit in a legal category of their own. After 1967, Israel classified them as permanent residents rather than citizens. They can live and work in Israel, but they do not receive an Israeli passport. Instead, they can apply for an Israeli travel document, a laissez-passer, valid for two or five years depending on the applicant’s request.4Gov.il. Apply for an Israeli Travel Document (Laissez Passer) for Israeli Citizens
The document is weaker than a full passport. The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs formally calls it a “Travel Document in Lieu of a National Passport,” and holders typically need visas to enter most countries; every re-entry to Israel means another entry visa stamp.5Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Issuance of Travel Documents (Passport) for Citizens and Residents of Israel
Keeping the underlying residency, and therefore the ability to renew the document, requires proving that your “center of life” remains in Jerusalem. Residents should expect to produce lease agreements, utility bills, health insurance enrollment, and children’s school records. Living outside the area for more than seven years, or acquiring citizenship or residency elsewhere, can lead to revocation of Jerusalem residency altogether.
Israeli Passports for Palestinian Citizens of Israel
Around two million Palestinian citizens of Israel, roughly 21 percent of the country’s population, hold full Israeli citizenship and carry standard Israeli passports. Their citizenship traces to the 1952 Nationality Law, which granted nationality to former Palestinian residents present in Israel at the state’s founding and registered as inhabitants by March 1952. Nationality then passes by birth to anyone born to an Israeli citizen parent.6Global Citizenship Observatory. Israel Nationality Law, 5712 – 1952
Adult Israeli passports are valid for ten years and, according to 2026 passport index data, provide access to about 143 countries and territories through visa-free or visa-on-arrival arrangements. Israeli citizens are also eligible for the U.S. Visa Waiver Program via ESTA, which permits stays of up to 90 days for business or tourism; the traveler needs a biometric electronic passport with ten-year validity, and the ESTA authorization itself lasts two years with multiple entries.7U.S. Embassy Jerusalem. ESTA – FAQs Unlike East Jerusalem permanent residents, Israeli citizens do not have to prove a center of life to keep their status.
Travel Documents for Refugees in Host Countries
Millions of Palestinians live as refugees in neighboring states and carry documents issued by their host governments. None of these documents confers citizenship.
Jordan
Jordan issues temporary passports to Palestinians who are not Jordanian citizens. Palestinians originally from the West Bank receive a five-year temporary passport. Palestinians originally from Gaza receive a two-year version. Neither grants citizenship, a national identification number, or full access to government services.8Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada. Palestine and Jordan – Passports Issued to Stateless Palestinians by the Government of Jordan The distinction affects daily life: West Bank passport holders have somewhat broader access to services, while Gaza passport holders face more restrictions and often depend on UNRWA for basic needs. Fees also differ by category.9Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada. Jordan and Palestine – Documents Issued to Stateless Palestinians The system dates to Jordan’s 1988 disengagement from the West Bank, after which the government stopped extending citizenship but continued providing travel papers.
Lebanon
Lebanon’s General Directorate of General Security issues travel documents specifically for Palestinian refugees. Those registered with UNRWA receive a document valid for five years; those not registered with UNRWA receive a three-year version.10Lebanese General Security. The Instructions Related to Biometric Passports Granted to Palestinian Refugees in Lebanon These documents do not grant residency rights, work permits, or any path to Lebanese citizenship, and holders often need a return visa before leaving Lebanon to guarantee re-entry.
Egypt
Egypt issues a travel document for Palestinian refugees, historically given to those displaced from Gaza. It is valid for five years. Applicants must obtain approval from the Immigration Authority in Egypt before renewing, declare that they hold no other travel document, and confirm they do not hold a permit to return to or enter Gaza.11Consulate General of Egypt. Applying for Egyptian Travel Document for Palestinian Refugees As with the Jordanian and Lebanese documents, this one does not grant citizenship or residency.
Palestinians With No Travel Document
A significant number of Palestinians worldwide hold no travel document at all, or hold an expired one they cannot renew. This affects diaspora Palestinians who were never entered into the PA population registry. Without a hawwiya, they cannot get a PA passport. Without citizenship in their host country, they cannot get a regular national passport. And if a host-country travel document expires while the holder is outside that country, renewal can be impossible without physically returning.
The gap produces functional statelessness. A Palestinian born in a Gulf state, for instance, may hold a birth certificate but no passport from any authority. The PA’s external-use passport is available in narrow circumstances to those who hold no other document, but processing depends on coordination between the PA mission abroad and the registry at home. Some Palestinians cannot travel internationally through any legal channel.
What the PA Passport Actually Gets You
Over 150 countries now recognize the State of Palestine, but state recognition and border acceptance are not the same thing. On the 2026 Henley Passport Index, the Palestinian travel document ranks 93rd globally with access to just 39 destinations, compared with roughly 143 for the Israeli passport.
For Palestinians in the West Bank, international travel almost always routes through the Allenby Bridge crossing into Jordan, because direct access to Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport is generally unavailable to PA passport holders. The Allenby terminal primarily serves the Palestinian population and tourists, and Israeli citizens are not permitted to cross there.12Israel Airports Authority. Allenby – About From Jordan, travelers fly out of Amman’s Queen Alia Airport. The routing adds cost, time, and extra permits.
Consular protection is limited. The PA cannot provide traditional consular services in most countries, and if a PA passport holder runs into trouble abroad, there is no comparable global network of embassies to contact. Palestinian diplomatic missions exist in states that recognize Palestine, but their ability to intervene in legal or emergency situations varies.
How U.S. Immigration Treats Palestinian Documents
The United States accepts the PA passport as a valid identity document for certain immigration purposes. Under Deferred Enforced Departure, USCIS defines a Palestinian as “an individual of any nationality, or without nationality” who holds a PA passport, a PA identification card, a birth certificate from the Palestinian territories verified by a recognized authority, or a travel document from a third country or the United Nations identifying the holder as Palestinian.13U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. DED Covered Population – Palestinians
One restriction applies specifically to Gaza. The U.S. government does not accept documents issued in Gaza after June 14, 2007 by Hamas unless they have been verified by the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, and the burden of getting that verification falls on the applicant.13U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. DED Covered Population – Palestinians Palestinians in the U.S. who need to replace a lost or stolen PA passport must work through the nearest Palestinian diplomatic mission, not any U.S. government office.