Israel announced on Tuesday it had officially legalized the status of 4,000 Palestinians in the West Bank, following a decade-long freeze in which almost no such requests were authorized.

Another 2,800 Palestinians registered as Gazans would receive a change of address entitling them to live in the West Bank.

The Palestinians in question live in West Bank areas where the Palestinian Authority has limited self-rule, and they will carry identity cards emblazoned with the PA’s winged eagle.

Palestinian officials and rights groups estimate that tens of thousands more undocumented Palestinians remain in the West Bank.

Another 2,800 are Palestinians who moved to the West Bank from the Gaza Strip before the Hamas terror group’s takeover of the enclave in 2007.

All of these cases involve Palestinians who have lived for many years in Judea and Samaria,” the liaison said in a statement, using the biblical term for the West Bank.

Israeli authorities apply different restrictions to Palestinians depending on whether they are listed as being from Gaza or the West Bank.

Ammar Hils, a Palestinian who has lived in Ramallah since he was six years old, told The Times of Israel that he had been attempting to change his address from Gaza to the West Bank for years, only to be met with silence from the Israeli authorities.

In August, when plans to address the issue of undocumented Palestinian residents of the West Bank were first announced, the PA’s al-Sheikh said the first people whose permits would be resolved were spouses of people who have proper documentation.

This summer, Gantz announced several other steps to improve ties with the PA and strengthen the de facto Palestinian government: a NIS 500 million loan to Ramallah, additional building permits in the West Bank where Israel administers construction, and more work permits for Palestinians seeking employment in Israel.

As they are legally considered to be illegal immigrants, most foreign spouses of West Bank Palestinians live tightly regulated lives.