Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked delivers a statement to members of the media, at the Knesset in Jerusalem, Nov. 19, 2018. Photo: Reuters / Amir Cohen / File.

i24 News – France on Sunday condemned Israel’s expulsion of French-Palestinian lawyer Salah Hamouri, who had been accused of security offenses in Israel.

Earlier on Sunday, Israel’s Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked announced that French-Palestinian lawyer Salah Hamouri was deported from Israel after his residency was revoked nearly two weeks ago due to his “involvement in terrorist activities.” Hamouri, who is a French citizen and has never held Israeli citizenship, was expelled to France, where he was welcomed by his wife Elsa, politicians and supporters.

“We condemn today the Israeli authorities’ decision, against the law, to expel Salah Hamouri to France,” the French foreign ministry said in a statement.

The ministry added that Paris had been “fully mobilized, including at the highest level of the state, to ensure Salah Hamouri’s rights are respected, that he benefits from all possible assistance and that he can lead a normal life in Jerusalem, where he was born, resides and wishes to live.”

“France also took several steps to communicate to the Israeli authorities in the clearest way its opposition to this expulsion of a Palestinian resident of East Jerusalem, an occupied territory under the Fourth Geneva Convention,” it added.

The supporters of Hamouri said his deportation from his birthplace was illegal.  However, he “will not be seen as a sympathetic figure,” said Owen Alterman, i24NEWS Senior Diplomatic Correspondent.

“The French government may feel that it needs to or wants to press Hamouri’s case. But doing so too loudly or too persistently could hurt the way France is seen in Israel. Even if, over the course of time, this episode is likely to get swallowed up by other news and other issues in the bilateral relationship,” he added.