PA: Israel’s deportation of 2 terror convicts a ‘crime against humanity’

The Palestinian Authority’s Commission of Detainee Affairs says Israel’s decision to deport and revoke the citizenship of two Palestinians jailed for terrorism is a crime against humanity that “threatens thousands of prisoners and ex-convicts” who hold Israeli citizenship or have permanent resident status as residents of East Jerusalem.

The decision, which was announced yesterday, “is part of the actions of forced displacement that have risen to the level of a war crime and crime against humanity,” the PA agency says.

The families of the two convicts set to be deported have said they received no official notice of Israel’s decision and instead learned about it from the media, according to the PA.

Israel’s decision yesterday marked the first implementation of a February 2023 law allowing the deportation and revocation of citizenship from people convicted of terrorism.

In its statement, the PA says the decision sets a “dangerous precedent” and calls the legislation “racist” and “one of the most prominent pieces of legislation aiming to undermine the Palestinian presence in the lands occupied in 1948,” the year Israel was established.

The PA statement does not identify the people being deported, but says one of them is a released prisoner. Hebrew media has identified them as Mahmoud Ahmad, who served 23 years in Israeli prison until 2024 for shooting attacks against soldiers and civilians, and Mohammed Ahmad Hussein al-Halsi, who was sentenced to 18 years in prison in 2016 for stabbing two elderly women in Armon HaNatziv.

According to the reports, Ahmad will be deported to the Gaza Strip immediately, while al-Hals will be deported there upon his release. However, the Prime Minister’s Office has not confirmed the destination, and the PA indicates they could be deported to either the Gaza Strip or the West Bank.