'Israel' deports French-Palestinian human rights lawyer Salah Hamouri

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The Israeli occupation Ministry of Interior announced deporting French-Palestinian human rights lawyer Salah Hamouri on Sunday morning after he had been detained without charge since March. 

Hamouri, 37, had been held under administrative detention, which allows the Israeli occupation to arbitrarily detain prisoners for renewable periods of up to six months. In late September, the Palestinian lawyer went on hunger strike in protest of the arbitrary administrative detention practiced by the Israeli occupation authorities, before ending the strike in mid-October.

NOW in Paris airport : welcoming committee waiting for French-Palestinian lawyer #SalahHamouri who was deported this morning from his homeland by Israel. This is war crime pic.twitter.com/o93K4Hz5qO

— anne paq (@annepaq) December 18, 2022

He had appealed on 14 July to French President Emmanuel Macron to apply pressure on the Israeli occupation to end his arbitrary detention. Following his appeal, Israeli occupation authorities classified Hamouri as "a prisoner of high risk" and transferred him to a "Hadarim" prison.

According to the occupation ministry, Hamouri "was deported this morning to France following Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked's decision to withdraw his residency status."

"Wherever a Palestinian goes, he takes with him these principles and the cause of his people: his homeland carried with him to wherever he ends up," Hamouri said in a statement.

Beaucoup de colère et d'émotion ce matin à Roissy. Notre camarade #SalahHamouri a été expulsé de Palestine.

La diplomatie française doit agir pour que Salah et sa famille puissent y retourner et y vivre en paix. pic.twitter.com/zI3cjWeFcB

— Jeunes Communistes (@_MJCF) December 18, 2022

On their part, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), Hamas, and the Prisoners Information Office condemned the Israeli decision, deeming it another racist attempt to empty the city of Al-Quds from its Palestinian residents.

France condemned "Israel's" decision to deport Hamouri. "We condemn today the Israeli authorities' decision, against the law, to expel Salah Hamouri to France," the French Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

UN independent experts had previously considered that the Israeli occupation was subjecting Hamouri to unlawful and "sadistic" practices, pointing out that "Israel" has targeted "Hammouri during the past 20 years with harassment, arbitrary arrest and detention, and other forms of abuse."

The occupation had accused Hamouri, who holds French citizenship, of being a member of the PFLP, which "Israel", the United States, and the European Union consider a "terrorist group".

Jessica Montell, executive director of HaMoked, an NGO which represents Hamouri, told Reuters that Hamouri's case sets a precedent for the deportation of Al-Quds residents who hold alternative citizenship.

"Because he holds a second nationality, that makes him more vulnerable to deportation," said Montell, adding that she expects similar cases will emerge more frequently with a new right-wing coalition expected to form the next Israeli occupation government.

Hamouri was previously tried and convicted by an Israeli court on allegations of plotting to assassinate Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, the spiritual leader of the ultra-Orthodox Shas political party. He was released in December 2011 as part of a prisoner swap with the Resistance in Gaza.

Born in occupied Al-Quds, Hamouri does not hold an Israeli passport, but he held a residency permit that Israeli occupation authorities revoked. 

Last month, the Palestinian lawyer was informed he would be deported, but the expulsion was delayed as his lawyers contested the case. 

Earlier this month, the Israeli occupation authorities confirmed the revocation of Hamouri's residency, paving the way for his deportation despite a new hearing scheduled for January 1.

In early December, UN experts warned that "Israel’s" decision to deport Hamouri to France against his will may constitute a war crime under the Geneva Convention.