People of the Palestinian territories—the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and the Gaza Strip—are bound by differing laws that handle marital unions on the basis of the couple's national status and religious affiliation. After the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, the Palestinian residents of the Jordanian-annexed West Bank and the Egyptian-occupied Gaza Strip became subject to Jordanian marriage law and Egyptian marriage law, respectively. After the 1967 Arab–Israeli War, which saw Israel capture the Palestinian territories from Jordan and Egypt, those original laws largely remained in place.
Since the beginning of Israel's occupation of the West Bank in 1967, all of the territory's Jewish settlements have been subject to Israeli marriage law. Additionally, all residents of Israeli-annexed East Jerusalem (including Arabs) are also subject to Israeli marriage law.[1]
The Palestinian National Authority, which was established by the Oslo Accords in 1994, continues to apply a modified version of the original Jordanian marriage law throughout the West Bank, excluding East Jerusalem and Jewish settlements. Since taking control of the Gaza Strip in 2007, Hamas continues to apply the Egyptian marriage law of the 1950s throughout the territory.