Israeli forces re-arrest French-Palestinian human rights lawyer Salah Hamouri amid ongoing persistent harassment

Israeli forces detained French-Palestinian lawyer and human rights activist Salah Hamouri, after breaking into his house in Kufr Aqab, north of Jerusalem, early Monday morning, according to prisoners' rights group Addameer.

Hamouri was taken to the Ofer detention centre, near Ramallah, a member of Addameer, who asked not to be named, told The New Arab, saying that no information about the lawyer's current legal status was given.

Right after publishing this piece, Zionist occupation forces re-arrested Salah Hamouri, this morning from his home in Kufur Aqab.
Yet, he reminds us all that we should be "Refusing to Bow Our Heads". #FreeThemAll https://t.co/3QzSklRSXY

— Amany Khalifa (@Amanykhalefa) March 7, 2022

Hamouri spent eight years in Israeli jails between 2006 and 2012.

He has worked as a lawyer defending Palestinian prisoners and detainees ever since until he was arrested again by Israel without charge.

In October, Israel revoked Hamouri's residency in Jerusalem and rejected his appeal against the decision in December.

An Israeli court also ordered Hamouri to reside in Kufr Aqab, a Palestinian town within Jerusalem municipal boundaries that is effectively neither part of Jerusalem nor part of the West Bank due to the Israeli separation wall.

In 2016, Israel deported Hamouri's wife, Elsa Lefort, a French national, and their two children.

Lefort told The New Arab that prior to his arrest on Tuesday, Salah had been "completely isolated from his professional, social and family universe".

"He was banned from crossing any checkpoint and had to remain in the boundaries of Kufr Aqab," she said.

"It was impossible for him to plead in court or to meet his clients in person. In addition, he recently learned that Israeli authorities revoked his medical insurance under the excuse that he is no longer a resident of Jerusalem."

📣#FIDH stands in solidarity with Palestinian-French #HumanRights defender @salah_hamouri ✊ whose appeal before the #Israeli Supreme Court seeks to suspend the revocation of his residency in #Jerusalem 👇https://t.co/dRaNW89I8o

— FIDH (@fidh_en) February 28, 2022

Earlier in October, Hamouri told The New Arab that he was unable to live a stable life with his family in Palestine having to constantly travel to France to be with them.

At the time, he said he was convinced that Israel wants to force him to leave the country for good.

In January, the French government stated that it "reiterated its demand to the Israeli authorities that Salah Hamouri be allowed to live in Jerusalem, the city that is his home, and enjoy normal access to basic services".