From the Liveblog of
Friday, May 9, 2025
Arab resident deported from Israel to Gaza in February said killed in Israeli airstrike
An Arab man deported from Israel to Gaza in February was killed in an Israeli airstrike on Rafah, reports the Arab48 news site.
28-year-old Basel al-Qur’an was born in Deir al-Balah but spent his entire adult life in Israel, until he was sent back to the Strip when he completed a prison sentence for traffic violations.
Al-Qur’an’s mother Marwa tells the outlet yesterday that she was notified of her son’s death by one of the people he had been staying with in the Strip. His corpse was taken to Gaza European Hospital in Khan Younis for identification. It is unclear when al-Qur’an was killed.
Al-Qur’an was born to an Arab Israeli mother and an Egyptian father in Gaza. Upon his parents’ divorce, he moved with his mother to Israel as an adolescent, where he spent his entire adult life.
Though his mother, wife and children are Israeli citizens, al-Qur’an was never able to obtain permanent residency or citizenship in Israel due to a 2003 law largely barring Palestinians married to Israeli citizens from the naturalization process.
Al-Qur’an migrated to Israel in 2013 on a temporary permit granted by the army that must be renewed every six months. Holders of these permits are largely barred from obtaining driver’s licenses.
In June 2023, Al-Qur’an was arrested and convicted of driving without a license — which he could not obtain because of his temporary status in Israel.
His residency permit expired during the 20 months he spent in prison, leaving him without legal status in Israel. He was deported to Rafah upon his release from prison.
Over several phone calls with The Times of Israel in March, the deportee claimed that upon his release from Shikma Prison on February 1 — the same day that 150 Gazan security detainees were freed as part of the hostage release-ceasefire deal with Hamas — Shin Bet agents took him to the Kerem Shalom border crossing, where two IDF soldiers loaded him onto an aid truck headed to Rafah.
His lawyer, Uzi Avraham, appealed to the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, the Defense Ministry body that oversees coordination in the West Bank and Gaza, requesting he be allowed to return to Israel.
According to Avraham, COGAT responded that they were reviewing the situation and would decide how to address it by the end of March, however both Avraham and al-Qur’an say the agency never followed up with them.
The Times of Israel Community.