Amnesty says Israel deportation of Palestinian rights defender Salah Hammouri a 'war crime'

Rights groups have declared Israel’s deportation of French-Palestinian human rights defender Salah Hammouri as a "war crime".

Amnesty International described the move as "unlawful... made possible by a network of laws and policies designed to maintain apartheid over Palestinians" in a statement on Wednesday.

Hamouri, 37, arrived in France on Sunday, having been held without charge in Israel under administrative detention, which ultimately allows Israel to detain suspects indefinitely.

Hammouri was a peaceful activist and human rights lawyer but despite this was still held in administrative detention.

His expulsion concluded a long legal battle in Israeli courts that started in October last year, when Israeli revoked his residency rights in his home city of Jerusalem.

"His deportation, and the revocation of his East Jerusalem residency status, are based on a 2018 amendment to the Entry into Israel Law, which gives the Minister of the Interior broad discretionary powers to revoke the status of Jerusalem permanent residents… considered to have 'breached allegiance' to the State of Israel," Amnesty stated.

"This violates international law as allegiance to the occupying power is not required from an occupied population," the statement adds.

The deportation displays "the Israeli authorities' utter disdain for international law, and illustrates the discriminatory laws and policies which form the heart of the apartheid system", according to the rights group's deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa Dina Eltahawy.

The UN human rights office also labelled the explusion of Salah a "war crime" on Monday, stating that "deporting a protected person from occupied territory is a grave breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention".

Israel has accused Hammouri of being a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and of being a security threat. Hammouri denies links to the PFLP.

Hammouri spent more than eight years in Israeli jails in separate terms and has said that he "will continue the struggle for the right of returning to Jerusalem".