International Driving Permit in Palestine Autonomous

🗓 We could not independently verify the road-traffic law for Palestine; facts here rely on official travel guidance where available. Research last updated: 29 July 2026. You may copy this information only if you provide a link back to this page.

⚠ This page is general information about driving rules, not legal advice. Rules change, and each authority applies its own — confirm your case with the relevant authority before you drive.

ℹ We are a private company. We are not a government body, a licensing or issuing authority, or a treaty organisation, and we are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting for any of them. The International Driver's Document we sell is a translation of your national driving licence: it is not a driving licence, and it is not a government-issued document.

• Driving in Palestine: key facts
• Do you need an International Driving Permit in Palestine?
• What side of the road does Palestine drive on?
• How long can you drive in Palestine with a foreign licence?
• Is Palestine a party to the 1949 or 1968 Road Traffic Convention?
• Why acceptance of your licence varies from place to place
• Can you drive in Palestine with your country's licence?
• Where to get an International Driving Permit
• Moving to Palestine? Rules for new residents
• Driving rules in Palestine tourists get fined for
• Read more about driving in Palestine
• Sources

Driving in Palestine: key facts

Do you need an International Driving Permit in Palestine?

Palestine acceded to the 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic on 11 November 2019 and is not a party to the 1949 Geneva Convention, so the 1968 IDP is the only permit with a treaty basis here. No Palestinian statute imposing a universal visitor IDP requirement could be verified: the Palestinian legislation portals are login-gated or offline. The only affirmative requirement statement is UK FCDO advice written for UK licence holders, and that wording is shared verbatim with the FCDO Israel advice, so it is not a Palestine-specific legal norm. Under Vienna Article 41(2) a licence from another Vienna party that conforms to Annex 6 must be recognised without an IDP. Even so, treat the 1968 IDP as de-facto mandatory: rental firms, insurers and checkpoint staff expect it alongside the original licence. Holders of 1949-only licences (United States of America, Japan, Canada, Australia and similar) can obtain only a 1949 IDP, which has no Palestinian treaty basis; carry it together with a certified Arabic translation.

• Tourists and short-term visitors: carry your national licence together with the document named in the row for your country of issue, in the table below — for most non-exempt licences that is an IDP.
• Car renters: Carry the original national licence together with the 1968 IDP in the car, plus passport and entry permission, the rental agreement and vehicle registration. FCDO states: "You'll need to have both the 1968 version of the international driving permit (IDP) and your UK driving licence with you in the car" and "You must carry a green card to prove you have the minimum insurance cover".

No specific penalty for driving without the required document was verified from an authoritative source. Foreign-government travel advice.

What side of the road does Palestine drive on?

Palestine drives on the right-hand side of the road, and overtaking is done on the left. Cars in Palestine are left-hand drive.

How long can you drive in Palestine with a foreign licence?

No Palestinian visitor driving period could be verified. In practice the limit is set by the entry permission issued at the Israeli-controlled crossing that every visitor must pass through, and by the IDP's own validity (a 1968 IDP runs no more than three years from issue or until the underlying national licence expires, whichever is earlier). Assume the shorter of your entry permission and your IDP validity, and re-check before travel. (FCDO Palestine travel advice (West Bank entry via Israeli military checkpoint); 1968 Vienna Convention, Annex 7)

Planning to move to Palestine? Different rules apply once you become a resident — see the residents section below.

Is Palestine a party to the 1949 or 1968 Road Traffic Convention?

Palestine is a Contracting Party to the 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic, but not to the 1949 Geneva Convention.

• 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic: accession on 11 Nov 2019.

Why acceptance of your licence varies from place to place

Whether a foreign country accepts your driving licence hangs on a tangle of variables: three different road-traffic conventions signed decades apart (1926, 1949, 1968) — the oldest predates the United Nations itself, and only the latter two were concluded under it — countries at different stages of joining each (signed vs. accepted vs. ratified), licences printed in alphabets local police can't read, vehicle-category systems that don't line up between countries, document generations that may not meet a convention's format even when the country is a member, bilateral deals between individual states, and local laws that are looser in one place and stricter in the next. The same licence can be fine at one border and rejected at the next — even at the next rental desk. The International Driving Permit exists to cut through most of it: a standardized, multilingual presentation of your existing licence, with harmonized category symbols, that most officials can read at a glance. It doesn't replace your national licence or grant new rights — you carry both — and it doesn't guarantee acceptance: a handful of destinations still require a local permit alongside or instead of it, but for most it meaningfully improves your odds.

Can you drive in Palestine with your country's licence?

This table is for tourists and temporary visitors. Moving to Palestine as a resident? Different rules apply — see the residents section below. Find your licence's country of issue below. Palestine acceded to the 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic on 11 November 2019 and is not a party to the 1949 Geneva Convention, so the 1968 IDP is the only permit with a treaty basis here. No Palestinian statute setting out foreign-licence recognition, a visitor period, an age limit or a fine schedule could be read online, so this guide states the convention default and flags the gaps rather than inventing a national rule. Treat the territories area by area: licensing authority, insurance validity, checkpoints, conflict risk and emergency access all change between Palestinian Authority areas, Israeli-controlled areas, East Jerusalem and Gaza. Rules change — confirm with official sources before you travel. Last verified: July 2026.

Legend: "1949" — Geneva Convention on Road Traffic (IDP valid up to 1 year); "1968" — Vienna Convention (IDP valid up to 3 years).

What the Status column means on this page:

• Treaty recognises licence + IDP — advised — the 1968 Vienna Convention obliges this destination to recognise a national licence conforming to Annex 6 of that Convention, and separately an IDP presented together with the national licence it belongs to; this row does not record whether your own licence conforms to Annex 6, and the licence-and-IDP pair is recognised either way, so carrying both is advised. The row for your country of issue, in the table below, gives the basis.
• No convention basis established for your licence — IDP advised — no road-traffic convention basis for your licence could be established at this destination, so this row settles neither that the licence alone is enough nor that anything must be carried with it; carrying an IDP is advised as a practical translation of your licence rather than as a legal entitlement. The row for your country of issue, in the table below, says what could not be established.
• Not established — the record does not settle whether you may drive here on this licence; confirm with the destination's licensing authority before you rely on it. The row for your country of issue, in the table below, says what could not be confirmed.

Sources and notes for the table above

[1] UN Treaty Collection, Multilateral Treaties Deposited with the Secretary-General — status of the 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic (chapter XI-B-1) and of the 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic (chapter XI-B-19) — XI-B-1, XI-B-19

Where to get an International Driving Permit

An International Driving Permit must be obtained before you travel, and only certain countries may issue one to you — you cannot buy an official IDP from an unrelated country. Under the 1968 Vienna Convention it may be issued only by the Contracting Party where you normally reside and which issued or recognizes your licence — by that Party's competent authority or by an association it has duly empowered. Under the 1949 Geneva Convention it is issued by the competent authority of a Contracting State, or by an association that authority has duly empowered. Which body that is varies by country: a government agency in some, an authorized motoring club in others.

• Travelling from Palestine? Palestine's official IDPs are issued by Palestinian Motorsport and Motorcycle Federation (PMMF).
• Travelling from another country? Ask that country's driving-licence authority which body it authorizes to issue IDPs — a government agency in some countries, an authorized motoring club in others.

Separately, IDA offers a digital International Driver's Document — a translation of your national licence that you carry alongside it. It is not an International Driving Permit issued under the 1949 or 1968 conventions by the body your country authorizes for that purpose, and it is not a certified, sworn or otherwise official translation: no authority certifies it, and where a country requires an official or certified translation by law, our document does not satisfy that requirement. It is a private translation meant to make your national licence readable at rental desks and roadside checks.

Moving to Palestine? Rules for new residents

Residents must obtain the licence required by the authority controlling their place of residence and the roads they use, which differs between Palestinian Authority areas, Israeli-controlled areas of the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza. The visitor clock and the residency route are two separate things: entering as a visitor on a foreign licence plus IDP gives no residence-based exchange right. Foreign-government travel advice.

Driving rules in Palestine tourists get fined for

• Mandatory equipment: Original national licence, 1968 IDP, passport and entry permission, vehicle registration, rental agreement, and a green card or other proof of insurance valid for every area entered. Carry drinking water and a charged mobile phone.
• Drink-driving: No Palestinian blood-alcohol limit could be verified from primary law. Treat the limit as zero and do not drink before driving; the applicable threshold and the enforcing authority can both change between Palestinian Authority areas, Israeli-controlled areas and East Jerusalem. No Palestinian penalty figure was verifiable. Expect police action, fines, licence and vehicle consequences, possible criminal liability and voided insurance.
• Speed limits: No consolidated Palestinian speed-limit table was verifiable. Obey posted limits and checkpoint instructions; police use radar traps and impose heavy fines for speeding. Road closures, checkpoints and security conditions override normal route planning.
• Carry the original national licence together with the 1968 IDP in the car, plus passport and entry permission, the rental agreement and vehicle registration. FCDO states: "You'll need to have both the 1968 version of the international driving permit (IDP) and your UK driving licence with you in the car" and "You must carry a green card to prove you have the minimum insurance cover".
• Many hire companies exclude the West Bank. FCDO: "check your insurance will cover you there. Some hire companies do not insure vehicles taken there", and it "may be easier to hire a fully insured car from a company in East Jerusalem". Get territorial cover confirmed in writing before you drive.
• FCDO: "You cannot travel into or out of the West Bank without passing through at least one Israeli military checkpoint"; "Road closures can occur with little notice"; "Expect road closures and numerous checkpoints across the West Bank." Checkpoints may close during Jewish high holidays, Israeli public holidays and periods of increased instability.
• FCDO names specific hazardous arterial routes: "Incidents have also occurred along Route 60 (especially junctions near Nablus), Route 443 and other West Bank arterial roads used by both Palestinians and Israelis." It also advises "not to use taxis in the West Bank, because of their involvement in a significant number of accidents".
• Avoid driving into ultra-Orthodox Jewish areas of Jerusalem during Shabbat (Friday sunset to Saturday nightfall); FCDO warns that "local residents may throw stones at your car".
• Travel advisory levels are area-specific and drive insurance validity: FCDO "advises against all travel to Gaza", against all travel to "Tulkarm Governorate, Jenin Governorate, and Tubas Governorate except Route 90", and against all but essential travel to "The rest of the West Bank". Travel insurance "could be invalidated if you travel against advice".

Read more about driving in Palestine

Watch what driving in Palestine looks like

A few minutes of real POV footage is the fastest way to feel confident before your first drive in Palestine:

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Sources

1. National road-traffic law
2. FCDO Palestine travel advice (West Bank entry via Israeli military checkpoint); 1968 Vienna Convention, Annex 7
3. Resident licence conversion rule
4. UN Treaty Collection - 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic: State of Palestine acceded 11 Nov 2019
5. UN Treaty Collection - 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic: State of Palestine absent from the participant list
6. FCDO Palestine - area-specific advisory levels and insurance invalidation
7. FCDO Palestine - emergency numbers 101 / 102 / 100
8. UN Treaty Collection — 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic
9. UN Treaty Collection — 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic