As a condition for its accession to the U.S. Visa Waiver Program , Israel has since July 20 loosened access through its borders, and in and out of the occupied West Bank, for Palestinian Americans in a pilot period.
Gaza, whose ruling Hamas Islamists are on Israeli and U.S. terrorism blacklists and whose borders are blockaded by Israel and Egypt, had been excluded from the pilot. That stirred protests by Palestinian Americans and U.S. calls for a change in policy. "This is an improvement that doesn't really add any value," Hani Almadhoun, a Palestinian American from the Washington, DC area, told Reuters. He said he felt like he was being told: "You may come and have a picnic in Israel, but you might not be able to go see your family which is really just minutes ."
The U.S. Embassy says some Palestinian Americans have complained of being barred from travelling between Israel and the West Bank by car. On Monday, it said a joint U.S.-Israeli team begin talks "to develop solutions over the coming months".