From detention to deportation…A decision to withdraw the identity (residency) of freed prisoner Mohammad Attoun
On Tuesday, the occupation authorities delivered a decision to the freed Jerusalemite prisoner Mohammad Ali Attoun (22 years old) revoking his Israeli identity card/permanent residency.
The occupation forces arrested Mohammad Attoun after raiding his home this morning in the village of Sur Baher in Jerusalem. After detaining and interrogating him, they delivered him a decision revoking his identity card and released him.
The decision, signed by Israeli Interior Minister Moshe Arbel, reads:
"I hereby inform you that I intend to revoke your permanent residency permit in Israel, in accordance with my authority under Section 11(1) of the Entry into Israel Law of 1952." The reasons for this, according to the decision, are: "Performing acts of terrorist subversion, membership in a terrorist organization, incitement, and receiving funds from the government (the Palestinian Authority), considered funds for supporting terrorism (prisoner allowances)." You were sentenced in the Jerusalem District Court under the Anti-Terrorism Law of 2016.
According to the decision, Attoun was convicted of disloyalty to the State of Israel. Prisoner Mohammad Attoun was released in February of this year as part of the fifth batch of prisoners in the prisoner exchange deal between Israel and Hamas. He was arrested in late 2022 and sentenced to four and a half years in prison.
The released prisoner, Mohammad Attoun, is the brother of prisoner Mouath, who was sentenced on May 27 to eight years and ten months in prison.
Last Wednesday, Israeli Defense Minister Yisrael Katz announced that there were four cases of "Israeli citizens in advanced stages of deportation," under a law that allows the revocation of Israeli citizenship from those convicted by the judiciary of receiving funds from the Palestinian Authority in exchange for carrying out attacks against Israeli targets.
He added that the law, proposed by Knesset Member Ofir Katz, entered into force after two years of stagnation.
The announcement came after a closed-door meeting in the Knesset, attended by officials from the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Interior, to discuss monitoring the implementation of the new law. Katz ordered the relevant agencies to transfer the necessary information to the Ministry of Interior for immediate implementation of the law.
Files are currently being prepared against "hundreds of others," according to the official statement, with the aim of revoking Israeli citizenship and deporting anyone proven to have received "financial rewards" from Palestinian groups in exchange for carrying out attacks or supporting their perpetrators, the statement said. A week after the green light was given to implement the law, the released prisoner Attoun was handed the decision to revoke his ID card, noting that the decision was issued on May 28, 2025.
The Wadi Hilweh Information Center in Jerusalem learned that the decision includes a freed prisoner who completed his sentence and was released last year, and two prisoners who remain in captivity.
In February 2023, the Israeli Knesset approved an amendment to the Citizenship Law, allowing the Minister of Interior to petition the Supreme Court to revoke the citizenship of Arab citizens of Israel, or to revoke the permanent residency status of Palestinian citizens of East Jerusalem, if it is proven that they receive financial allocations from the Palestinian Authority.
The occupation authorities had previously issued decisions to revoke the ID cards of six Jerusalemite prisoners released in the exchange deal, including three prisoners who were deported outside the country: Khaled Qutteineh, Ahmed Obeid, and Majdi al-Za’tari, and three prisoners who were released to their areas of residence in Jerusalem.
Last February, the Interior Minister issued a decision to deport three Jerusalemites from the city of Jerusalem, on the grounds of "supporting and endorsing terrorism." In the same month, the Ministry of Defense ordered the deportation of 20 Jerusalemite families from the city and the revocation of their Israeli identity or citizenship, based on a law that stipulates "the expulsion of family members of those who carry out armed operations against Israeli targets," which was ratified in November 2024.
