Background
Six members of the Shalalda family — Muhammad Abd al-Rahim Aqel Shalalda, Na’im Ahmad Abd al-Rahim Shalalda, Hussein Hamed Abd al-Rahim Shalalda, Zidan Ahmad Issa al-Shalalda, Imad Mahmoud Issa Shalalda, and Ibrahim Ahmad Issa Shalalda — together with “St. Yves” Association (the Catholic Center for Human Rights), filed a petition with the High Court of Justice. The petitioners contend that they were expelled from their homes and agricultural lands by unauthorized actors and have since been prevented from returning.
The respondents named are the Minister of Defense, the Head of the Civil Administration, and the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) — the three Israeli governmental bodies that exercise authority over civilian affairs in the occupied territories and would therefore be capable of facilitating the petitioners’ return and providing them protection.
The petition, filed in January 2025 (case number suggests initial filing in that month), came before a panel of three justices — Justice David Mintz, Justice Yael Wilner, and Justice Alex Stein — for a hearing on June 11, 2026.
The Court’s Holding
The court issued a conditional order (צו על תנאי) directed at all three respondents. The order requires the respondents to appear and show cause why they should not exercise the powers vested in them to allow the petitioners to return to the homes and agricultural lands in which they resided prior to their expulsion by unauthorized actors, and why they should not provide the petitioners with adequate protection against those same actors.
The respondents are directed to file a reply affidavit within 60 days. The petitioners will then have 30 days thereafter to file a response. The conditional order is interlocutory — it does not finally resolve the merits but compels the government to justify its inaction, keeping the matter alive for full adjudication.
Key Takeaways
- The High Court of Justice found the petition sufficiently meritorious to issue a conditional order, placing the burden on the Israeli defense establishment to explain why it has not used its legal authority to enable the displaced families to return.
- The order specifically acknowledges that the expulsion was carried out by “unauthorized actors” (גורמים בלתי מוסמכים), and requires the respondents not only to address the return but also to provide the petitioners with adequate protection from those actors going forward.
- The case was brought with the support of St. Yves — the Catholic Center for Human Rights — signaling organized civil-society advocacy for displaced Palestinian residents through Israeli judicial channels.
- The court’s timeline (60-day government reply, then 30 days for petitioners) sets a structured briefing schedule that will determine whether a final order compelling return is issued.
Why It Matters
This decision is significant because it demonstrates the Israeli High Court of Justice’s continued willingness to entertain petitions from Palestinians displaced by non-state actors, and to demand that the military-administrative apparatus account for its failure to act. By issuing a conditional order rather than dismissing the petition, the court signals that the government’s obligations under its authority in the territories extend to protecting residents from expulsion even by unauthorized third parties, not merely from direct state action.
For practitioners and human rights advocates, the ruling illustrates how HCJ proceedings can be used as a mechanism to compel governmental action on displacement in the occupied territories. The outcome of the full briefing — particularly the government’s explanation of why it has not intervened — will be closely watched as a marker of the scope of Israeli administrative and protective duties toward civilian populations under its jurisdiction.