Israeli occupation authorities have forcibly expelled three recently released Palestinian prisoners from occupied Jerusalem, in what Palestinian officials and rights groups have condemned as an unlawful and punitive act. The deportation order, issued by Israeli Interior Minister Moshe Arbel, targeted Zeina Barbar, Muhammad Abu al-Hawa, and Tasneem Odeh, barring them from returning to their city.

According to sources from the Jerusalem Governorate, two of the deportees were among those freed under the "Freedom Flood" prisoner exchange deal during the ceasefire agreement between Palestinian factions and Israel. Their expulsion marks a sharp escalation in Israel’s ongoing repression against Jerusalem’s Palestinian residents, particularly former prisoners and those with perceived political affiliations.

Palestinian factions denounced the move as part of Israel’s systematic efforts to erase Palestinian presence in Jerusalem. Hamas condemned the deportations as a "barbaric" attempt to further Judaize the city by forcibly removing its indigenous residents. The move is part of a broader crackdown, with at least nine Jerusalemites receiving deportation orders in February alone, including a journalist expelled from Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Human rights organisations have raised alarm over the increasing use of deportation as a tool of suppression, warning that such measures violate international law and constitute an attack on Palestinian identity in the city. As Israel tightens its grip on Jerusalem, Palestinians continue to resist policies aimed at erasing their presence from their historic homeland.