Palestinian activists and human rights groups warned on Wednesday that Israel was setting a "dangerous precedent" after revoking the Jerusalem residency of two Palestinian detainees and deporting them to Gaza.
The move is the first known implementation of a controversial legislation passed in February 2023, allowing Israel to strip citizenship or residency from Palestinians convicted of certain offences.
The decision affected former prisoners Mahmoud Ahmed from Kafr Aqab in north Jerusalem and Mohammed Ahmad Hussein al-Halsaeh from Jabal al-Mukabber.
Rights advocates fear the measure could pave the way for wider expulsions, potentially impacting around 850 Palestinian detainees who may fall under the law's criteria.
Under the discriminatory legislation, residency or citizenship can be revoked from Palestinian, including citizens of Israel, if convicted of carrying out attacks against Israelis or whose families received financial support from the Palestinian Authority during their imprisonment.
The law does not apply to Jewish citizens convicted of similar offences.
The Palestinian Prisoners' Club said the policy marks a new phase of repression against detainees and their families, warning that it could be expanded.
The Palestinian Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs described the measure as a "dangerous precedent", adding that Palestinians holding Israeli citizenship or Jerusalem residency could also eventually be targeted.
"The decision is based on a racist law, the Citizenship and Residency Revocation Law approved in 2023, which is considered one of the most prominent discriminatory legislations aimed at undermining the Palestinian presence in the territories occupied in 1948 and in occupied Jerusalem," the commission said in a statement.
The group also accused Israeli leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu - who is wanted by the ICC for war crimes in Gaza, of openly pursuing policies aimed at expelling Palestinians from their land.
Both organisations urged the United Nations to take action, criticising international inaction over escalating Israeli measures, deemed illegal under international law, which they linked to Israel's genocidal war in Gaza.
The Governorate of Jerusalem condemned the revocations as a form of collective punishment and said forced removal from the city constitutes a grave breach of international humanitarian law.
It cited Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which prohibits the forcible transfer or deportation of protected persons from occupied territory, and argued that the policy amounts to a war crime.
The Israeli legal rights group Adalah also criticised the decision, saying the deportation orders allow Palestinian citizens or residents to be exiled from their homeland and transform citizenship into a conditional status that can be revoked.
"This unprecedented move violates the absolute international prohibition against statelessness and destroys the most foundational protection of citizenship," Adalah said.
Israel has not publicly indicated whether further revocations are imminent. However, Palestinian rights groups say the decision signals a broader strategy that could significantly affect Palestinian residents of Jerusalem and detainees held in Israeli prisons.