The army’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories has proposed new rules that would bar most Israeli Arabs from visiting the Gaza Strip in response to the fact that two Israelis have gone missing in Gaza over the last year.

Only one of the two was an Israeli Arab; the other was an Ethiopian-Israeli Jew. But Jews are already forbidden by law to enter Gaza.

Even today, Israeli Arabs are allowed to enter Gaza only to visit first-degree relatives, and only with prior approval from COGAT. According to COGAT, 762 Israelis received permits to enter Gaza during the first six months of the year. Most went either to join a spouse or to visit a sick relative.

But the new rules proposed by COGAT director Maj. Gen. Yoav Mordechai, which have already been approved by GOC Southern Command Sami Turgeman, are even more stringent. From now on, COGAT will issue entry permits to Gaza only for humanitarian reasons, and only after the applicant undergoes a security check.

COGAT said in a press statement on Thursday that the change is necessary because, “given the security situation in the Gaza Strip,” people who enter Gaza could be risking their lives.

“Hamas is liable to exploit Israeli Arabs’ ties to Gaza,” the statement explained. “It is even holding two innocent Israeli civilians against their will, one of them a Bedouin. Thus at the present moment, the entry of Arab Israelis into the Strip has security implications.”