The Israeli Defense Ministry, on Sunday, demanded the deportation of twenty Indigenous Jerusalemite Palestinian families from the city and the revocation of their ID card or “Israeli citizenships,” (if they have citizenship), Maan News Agency said.
In November 2024, the Israeli Knesset approved a bill that mandates the “expulsion of family members of individuals who carry out attacks against Israeli targets” if they had prior knowledge of the operation or glorified and supported the attacks after its execution.
According to the law, the deportation order for an “Israeli citizen” is not less than 7 years and not more than 15 years, and in the case of a “permanent or temporary resident,” it is not less than 10 years and not more than 20 years.
The Israeli police are preparing a list that includes information about Palestinian political prisoners who were released in the prisoner-swap agreement and their families, to determine if any “support or endorsement has occurred.”
The occupation authorities have taken measures to deport the freed detainee Yazan Froukh, the son of the freed detainee Mohamed Froukh, who was sentenced to 19 years in prison and released in the prisoner-swap agreement last month. The request for his deportation was submitted on February 12, 2025.
Another request was submitted on February 15, 2025, against the brother of the freed Jerusalemite detainee Nawal Fteiha, who was abducted in 2020 and sentenced to 8 years in prison, and was released in the prisoner-swap deal last month.
Ten days ago, Israeli Interior Minister Moshe Arbel decided to deport three Indigenous Jerusalemite Palestinians from the city of Jerusalem on the grounds of “supporting and endorsing terrorism.”
Those threatened with deportation are: Tasneem Awda, the daughter of Barakat Awda who was killed in 2022 after reportedly carrying out a ramming attack, detainee Mohammad Abu Hawwa, the brother of Adam Abu Hawwa who was killed in 2023 after allegedly carrying out a stabbing attack, and freed detainee Zeina Barber (freed in the prisoner-swap agreement), the daughter of freed detainee Majd Barber who spent 20 years in prison.
Unlike Jewish residents of Jerusalem who are granted citizenship upon their birth, only about 5% of Jerusalemite Palestinians hold Israeli citizenship, whereas the majority are classified as “permanent residents.”
This status distinction significantly impacts their rights and political representation within the city. In many cases, it has also led to individuals being stripped of their residency and subsequently deported from the city.
One example is Palestinian-French lawyer, Salah Hammouri, 37, who was held under Administrative Detention without charges or trial, before Israel revoked his Jerusalem ID card and stripped him of all residency rights in occupied Jerusalem, and deporting him to France.
Hammouri, a lawyer and a field researcher with the Ad-Dameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, spent more than eight years in Israeli prisons, starting when he was abducted in 2001 and was sentenced to five months in prison.
