Israel on Thursday announced it has stripped a Palestinian lawyer of his Jerusalem residency and plans to deport him to France, saying the man is an activist in a banned militant group.
The decision by Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked underscored the fragile status of Jerusalem's Palestinians, who hold revocable Israeli residency rights but almost universally are not citizens. It also threatened to trigger a diplomatic spat with France, which has argued against the deportation.
Salah Hammouri has been held since March in administrative detention - an Israeli tool that allows authorities to hold suspects without charge for months at a time. Shaked said that after Hammouri's detention expires this weekend, he would be deported to France as quickly as possible. Hammouri is a lifelong Jerusalem resident but holds French citizenship. (Associated Press)