Israel lets the Palestinians go to the beach

THERE ARE no lifeguards at the southernmost beach in Tel Aviv, just before the rocky promontory where Jaffa begins. That doesn’t bother Palestinian children paddling in the shallow water. Few of them can swim. Some don’t even own bathing costumes. But many are seeing the sea for the first time—enough to bring them great joy. After their parents dry them off, families may take a stroll around the central square in Jaffa. Then it is back to the landlocked West Bank.

Such scenes have played out several times this summer on beaches up and down Israel’s Mediterranean coast. Only about 70,000 Palestinians out of the roughly 3m who live in the West Bank have work permits that allow them to travel outside the territory, which is under partial Palestinian control. But on some Saturdays Israel’s security forces turn a blind eye to families slipping through gaps in the security barrier that surrounds most of the territory. On the other side of the fence, friends and family members who live in Israel or unofficial tour operators are waiting to whisk them to the beach.

Israel appears to be trying to ease some of the hardship for the Palestinians, who have had a rough year. Unemployment in the West Bank, already high, spiked as covid-19 forced the Palestinian Authority (PA) to lock down the economy. The virus also led Israel to issue...