OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (Palestine Foundation Information Center), Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has approved the expulsion of a released Palestinian prisoner and another detainee currently serving a sentence in Israeli prisons, ordering their removal from occupied Jerusalem to the Gaza Strip and the revocation of their residency status.
According to Israeli authorities, Netanyahu signed the order Tuesday morning to strip residency rights from Mahmoud Ahmad, a former prisoner from Kafr Aqab, and Mohammed Ahmad Hussein al-Halseh from Jabal al-Mukabber. The latter remains imprisoned.
In a statement, Netanyahu said the decision followed their involvement in stabbing and shooting attacks in occupied Jerusalem. He warned that “many others like them are on the way,” signaling that additional cases could follow.
This marks the first time Israeli occupation authorities have implemented the measure in practice, three years after the Knesset approved legislation allowing the revocation of citizenship or residency and the deportation of Palestinian prisoners on the grounds that they allegedly received financial stipends from the Palestinian Authority.
Under the decision, Mahmoud Ahmad will be deported immediately to Gaza and stripped of his Jerusalem residency. He had served 23 years in Israeli prisons since 2001 before being released in 2024. Israeli authorities said he was convicted on multiple charges, including weapons-related offenses and planning attacks.
Mohammed al-Halseh, who remains in prison, is also expected to face expulsion and revocation of residency upon completion of his sentence.
Palestinian legal experts and rights groups have previously warned that such measures amount to forced displacement and could violate international law, particularly as East Jerusalem residents hold a unique legal status under Israeli occupation rather than Israeli citizenship.
Adalah, a legal rights center in 1948 occupied Palestine, said that Israel’s decision to deport two Palestinian residents of occupied East Jerusalem after revoking their Israeli citizenship constitutes a violation of international law and fundamental human rights.
The group warned that the move could pave the way for broader use of the measure against other Palestinian citizens.
According to Adalah, the 2023 law mandates the deportation of Palestinians to areas under Palestinian Authority control if they allegedly received financial support during imprisonment.
The organization described the measure as punitive and discriminatory, targeting Palestinians exclusively and potentially leading to forced displacement or statelessness.
It stressed that arbitrary deprivation of citizenship, especially when it results in statelessness or forced exile, violates international human rights law, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness.
