DaysofPal – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has approved the revocation of residency status and deportation of two Palestinian prisoners from Jerusalem to the Gaza Strip, marking the first implementation of a controversial law allowing such measures.
Netanyahu announced that he signed the orders to strip residency from Mahmoud Ahmad, a former prisoner from Kafr Aqab north of occupied Jerusalem, and Mohammad Ahmad Hussein al-Halseh from Jabal al-Mukabber in East Jerusalem.
One of the men has already completed his sentence, while the other remains incarcerated in Israeli prisons. Both were convicted in connection with stabbing and shooting attacks in occupied Jerusalem. Netanyahu warned that “many like them are also on the way.”
This is the first time Israel has enforced the measure, three years after the Knesset passed legislation permitting the revocation of citizenship or permanent residency and the deportation of Palestinian prisoners on the grounds that they received financial stipends from the Palestinian Authority during their imprisonment.
Israeli authorities are set to immediately revoke the residency of Mahmoud Ahmad and deport him to Gaza. Ahmad served a 23-year sentence beginning in 2001 and was released in 2024 after being convicted on multiple charges, including weapons offenses and planning attacks.
Mohammad al-Halseh, a resident of Jabal al-Mukabber, is serving an 18-year prison term that began in 2016. Authorities intend to strip his residency and deport him to Gaza once he completes his sentence.
Coalition chairman Ofir Katz stated that the factual basis for the deportations had been approved by security bodies, the government’s legal adviser, and Netanyahu in his capacity, acting on behalf of the interior minister.
He added that the necessary documents to revoke residency and carry out deportation orders had been signed, noting that additional cases are currently under review.
Under Israeli law, the interior minister may petition a court to revoke the citizenship or permanent residency of Jerusalem Palestinians convicted of offenses and found to have received financial support from the Palestinian Authority during imprisonment. Upon completion of their sentence, individuals can then be expelled from occupied Jerusalem.
The legal rights center Adalah condemned the move, stating that the deportation orders effectively exile Palestinians from their homeland. The organization argued that the government has turned citizenship and residency into conditional privileges that can be withdrawn at will, in violation of international law.
Adalah further warned that the unprecedented step contravenes the absolute prohibition on rendering individuals stateless and undermines the fundamental protections that citizenship is meant to provide.
The group said the law mandating the forced transfer of Palestinians to areas under Palestinian Authority control if they received financial assistance during imprisonment establishes a punitive standard applied exclusively to Palestinians, opening the door to permanent deportation even in cases that may result in statelessness.
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