Israel Deports Palestinian Rights Activist to France

On Sunday, the Palestinian Foreign Affairs Ministry condemned Israel's forcible expelling of Salah Al-Hamouri, a French-Palestinian lawyer, resident of East Jerusalem, to France.

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His deportation of Al-Hamouri "is an outrageous step committed by the illegal occupation and a war crime that is added to its long list of crimes committed against the Palestinians."

Palestinian authorities urged the international community "to hold Israel accountable for its ongoing crimes, including the forcible displacement of the lawyer Al-Hamouri."

"We call on the United Nations Security Council to uphold its obligations and bring an end to Israel's continuous war crimes," they said.

Al-Hamouri was deported to France at midnight, "although the legal procedures that were scheduled in his case had not yet ended, including the objection to withdrawing his identity," said the Palestinian Prisoners Club Association.

Israeli Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked said that his deportation and the withdrawal of his Jerusalem identity card took place due to his involvement in armed activities.

Previously on Nov. 30, the Israeli authorities informed Al-Hamouri, who was under administrative detention, that he would be deported to France and his identity revoked.

On Dec. 5, the administrative detention order against him ended, and an Israeli court decided the next day, after two court sessions held for him, to keep him until a decision on his deportation was determined, and his identity was revoked.

Al-Hamouri, 37, married and a father of two, has spent a total of more than nine years in Israeli prisons and was re-arrested in March.