French-Palestinian prisoner Salah Hammouri to appear in Israeli court for deportation hearing

Salah Hammouri, the Palestinian-French whose residency status was cancelled last year for breaching allegiance to the state of Israel and is currently detained as a deportee, will appear for what could be a decisive deportation hearing before the Israeli authorities today.

The 37-year-old political prisoner has been held in administrative detention without trial or charge since March.

Hammouri's lawyers and the French Consul will be able to attend the hearings but not his parents, according to the 'Justice for Salah' campaign web page.

 The French consulate in Jerusalem released a statement on Tuesday morning warning the Israeli authorities against deporting Salah Hammouri.

"We have made our position clear to Israel. Salah Hammouri must not be expelled.."

Nous avons signifié de la manière la plus claire notre position aux autorités 🇮🇱 : Salah Hamouri ne doit pas être expulsé. Il doit pouvoir exercer l’ensemble de ses droits et mener une vie normale à Jérusalem, sa ville de naissance et de résidence.https://t.co/WcmvJjOf7K

— France à Jérusalem 🇫🇷 🇪🇺 (@FranceJerusalem) December 6, 2022

Hammouri will have two hearings today. The first relates to his deportation order, and the second concerns a detention order. 

On 29 November, the high court denied Salah Hammouri's appeal against revoking his right of residence in Jerusalem. The Israeli authorities then announced that they would expel Hammouri on 4 December.

Hammouri spent more than eight years in Israeli jails in separate terms.

In 2011, he was freed in a prisoner exchange deal between Hamas and Israel.

#France Should Denounce the Expulsion of Salah Hamouri by #Israel. Deportations of protected persons from an occupied territory can amount to #WarCrimes. #SalahHammouri @JusticeforSalah https://t.co/BquG08m5zd

— Khulood Badawi (@KhuloodBadawi) December 4, 2022

Israel has often accused Salah Hammouri of being an "active" member of the Palestine Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the PFLP, which brands as a "terror" organisation.

The transfer of Palestinians from occupied East Jerusalem is considered a war crime under Article 8 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.

Since 1967, Israel has revoked the residency status of more than 14,200 Palestinians.