Palestinian Authority hands over retired colonel to France over 1982 Paris attack

The family of retired Palestinian security officer Mahmoud Al-Adra, also known by the alias Hisham Harb, said the Palestinian Authority handed him over to French authorities on Thursday morning, following a months-long request from Paris.

France suspects Al-Adra of overseeing a 1982 attack targeting a Jewish-owned restaurant in the capital.

Palestinian police had arrested Al-Adra on 19 September 2025, just days before France officially recognised the State of Palestine at the United Nations General Assembly.

Family sources told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that a Ramallah Magistrates’ Court was due to consider France’s extradition request on Thursday, 16 April 2026. However, Al-Adra was not brought to the hearing, raising the likelihood that he had already been handed over before any Palestinian court ruling on the request.

The sources added that Palestinian police had repeatedly asked for his passport on Monday, which the family viewed as a clear sign that preparations were under way to transfer him within days.

Al-Adra had earlier escaped from a hospital in Ramallah at dawn on Tuesday and fled to his family home in the town of Yatta, south of Hebron. Palestinian security forces later rearrested him after raiding the house.

According to the same sources, police also detained six members of his family, including men and women, in connection with his escape from the hospital.