Court offers Abu-Tir ultimatum: Jail or expulsion

Senior Hamas official required to deposit NIS 150,000 prior to deportation and to sign document committing that he won't return to Israel. If he fails to do so, he will remain in detention

Shmulik Grossman|Published: 07.14.10 , 12:14

Senior Hamas official Mohammad Abu-Tir will be expelled from Israel this Sunday, the Jerusalem Magistrates' Court ruled on Wednesday. It still remains unclear to which country he will be deported.

Prior to this, Abu-Tir, who lives in the Abu Tor neighborhood of Jerusalem, will be required to deposit NIS 50,000 (about $12,900) with the court. If he fails to do so, he will remain in detention by court order. In addition, he will be required to post NIS 100,000 (about $25,800) self-bail and a third-party bail of NIS 100,000.

He will also be required to sign a document committing that he will not return to Israeli territory.

At the beginning of the month, an indictment was filed against Abu-Tir in the Jerusalem Magistrates' Court for remaining in Israel illegally.

"I am willing to do anything to remain in Jerusalem," said Abu-Tir. During the same hearing, he declined the alternative to detention that was offered – deportation from Israel and NIS 100,000 bail that he will not return to within the Green Line.

In the past two weeks, Abu-Tir was in detention and was occasionally brought to the Magistrates' Court in the capital. During his detention, he received an offer to resign from Hamas and cease all activities against Israel in exchange for permission to return to his home in Jerusalem.