Israel to deport dual citizenship Palestinian to France

Administrators at Israel’s Hadarim Prison yesterday informed Palestinian prisoner Salah Hamouri that he is to be deported to France following the withdrawal of his Jerusalem identity card. Jerusalem-born Hamouri has dual Palestinian and French citizenship.

Local sources told the media that he was “kidnapped by Israeli soldiers from his home in March,” adding that he is being held under an administrative

detention order with neither charge nor trial. The order has been extended on three occasions.

“Hamouri’s last detention period was supposed to end this Sunday,” the sources pointed out. “His family is surprised by the decision to deport him.”

Lawyer Hamouri is a former prisoner who was released as part of the second batch of the 2011 so-called “Loyalty of the Free” deal. After his release, he was harassed by the Israeli authorities, which prevented him from entering the West Bank. The researcher with Addameer human rights organisation has also been held in administrative detention multiple times and prevented from living in Jerusalem.

Israel arrests and deports influential Jerusalemites in an attempt to discourage their presence in the occupied city of their birth.

READ: HRW calls on Israel to release French-Palestinian rights defender