On Thursday, Israel declared that a Palestinian lawyer had lost his right to live in Jerusalem and would deport to France because he was a member of an outlawed militant organization.
The choice made by Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked brought attention to the precarious position of Jerusalem’s Palestinian residents, who, with rare exceptions, have revocable residency rights in Israel but are not citizens.
Additionally, it raised the possibility of a diplomatic dispute with France, which has opposed the deportation.
Since March, Salah Hammouri has been in administrative custody, a practice used by Israeli authorities to keep suspects without a trial for extended periods.
Hammouri’s detention will end this weekend, according to Shaked, and he will be sent back to France as soon as possible.
Hammouri has lived in Jerusalem all his life, yet he is a French citizen.
She declared, “We must combat terrorism with all the instruments at our disposal.
Terrorists like Hamouri acquiring status in Israel is unacceptable.
Israel claims that Hammouri is a part of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which Israel and the US both classify as a terrorist organizations.
He has served as an attorney for Adameer, a nonprofit that defends the rights of Palestinian detainees that Israel has expelled due to their purported affiliation with the PFLP.
He was sentenced to seven years in prison for an alleged murder plot against a famous rabbi but was later freed in a 2011 prisoner swap with the Hamas militant organization.
In the most recent proceedings against him, he was not found guilty.
Shaked revoked his Jerusalem residency rights last year, alleging a “breach of allegiance,” and early this year, he was put in administrative detention based on secret evidence that he was not allowed to see, according to Israel, which claimed he had used his residency there to continue “his hostile, serious and significant activity.”
This Monday, the Israeli Supreme Court approved the deportation after dismissing an appeal from the Israeli human rights organization HaMoked against the decision to revoke his status.
HaMoked attorney Dani Shenhar described the removal of his residency as “an extreme move that violates a person’s basic right to live in his homeland.”
Shenhar declared that Hammouri owed no allegiance to the state of Israel because he was a member of Jerusalem’s native population.
“The injustice is only made worse by the fact that this decision was largely based on secret evidence.”
It was unclear when Hammouri would be deported at the time.
French President Emmanuel Macron has previously brought the subject up with Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid.
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