Israel’s announcement to revoke the citizenship of two Palestinians accused of carrying out the attack drew condemnation from Palestinians, who said the move “constitutes a serious and shocking precedent” and paves the way for the targeting of thousands of detainees and former prisoners.

israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu An order was signed on Tuesday to revoke the citizenship of two Palestinians and expel them from Israel. This is the first time the discriminatory 2023 law has been used to expel Palestinians from Israel.

Why is Israel stripping Palestinians of their citizenship?

“This morning I signed the decision to revoke the citizenship and deport two Israeli terrorists who carried out stabbing and shooting attacks on Israeli civilians and were rewarded by the Palestinian Authority for their heinous acts,” Netanyahu wrote in an X post on Tuesday.

Referring to Likud lawmaker Ofir Katz, Netanyahu added: “I thank coalition chairman @OfirKatzMK for his leadership in enacting the law to expel them and many more like them from the state of Israel.”

One of the men was released from prison in 2024 after serving 23 years for security-related crimes, and the other was convicted in 2016 and is currently serving an 18-year sentence, according to Adala, the Israeli Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights.

The decision was based on a discriminatory law passed by the Israeli Knesset in February 2023, the Committee for Detainees and Former Detainees Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoners Association (PPS) said in a joint statement on Wednesday.

The 2023 law makes it easier for authorities to strip citizenship or residency rights from Palestinians imprisoned for what Israel defines as “acts of terror.”

The law targets Palestinian citizens of Israel, as well as Palestinians with Israeli residency rights in occupied and illegally annexed East Jerusalem.

It noted that Palestinians could lose their citizenship or residency rights after being convicted or accused of “acts of terrorism” and receiving funds from the Palestinian Authority, which governs the occupied West Bank.

Adalah general manager Hassan Jabareen called it “a very, very dangerous law.”

“This will be a very harsh precedent against Palestinian citizens. It will open the way for their transfer for political reasons,” Jabalin told Al Jazeera.

“This is the first law we know of in a Western democracy that allows a state to revoke the citizenship of its citizens solely for political reasons.

“As Netanyahu said, this is just the beginning. It means they will revoke more and more citizenships. This is a way to transfer Palestinian citizens,” who make up about 20 percent of Israel’s total population of about 10 million.

Jabalin added that the Israeli government was doing this to heighten tensions between Palestinian citizens and the state ahead of legislative elections in October. Jabalin said the Israeli “right wing” wanted to be seen attacking Palestinians for “populist reasons and electoral reasons.”

Ahead of the 2023 legislation, the 1952 Citizenship Law already allows for the revocation of citizenship or residency rights for Palestinians in Israel and Jerusalem on the grounds of “violation of loyalty to the State of Israel.”

A “violation of loyalty” is defined as committing a “terrorist act,” aiding or abetting such an act, or “actively participating” in the activities of a “terrorist organization.”

‘Apartheid’: What other Israeli laws discriminate against Palestinians?

Citizenship revocation law 2023 mainly targets Palestinians and complements long-standing legislation Different applications More important to Palestinians in Israel than to Jewish Israelis.

Adala said there are currently about 100 Israeli laws that discriminate against Palestinian citizens in Israel and Palestinian residents in the occupied Palestinian territories.

In 2018, the Israeli Knesset passed a controversial “Jewish nation-state” law that defines the country as the homeland of the Jewish people, further marginalizing Israel’s Palestinian citizens. The law states that Jews have the “exclusive right to national self-determination.”

Last November, Israel Passed A first draft of the death penalty bill would impose the death penalty on those convicted of killing Israelis for “racist” motives or “with the purpose of harming Israel.” The bill is under discussion in Parliament.

Legal experts say the law is discriminatory in how it defines “terrorism.” Palestinian attacks are likely to be called “racist” and thus attract the death penalty.

Amnesty International issued a statement on February 3 appeal to israel abandoned the bill, warning that the measures would violate international law and “further entrench Israel’s apartheid regime against Palestinians.”

“If passed, these bills would distance Israel from the vast majority of countries that reject the death penalty in law or practice, while further entrenching its brutal apartheid regime against all Palestinians over whom Israel controls rights,” the Amnesty International statement said.

Last week, Israel’s cabinet approved measures aimed at expanding its power in the occupied West Bank, making it easier to illegally seize Palestinian land. Although this has come 2024 UN Resolutions Call on Israel to end its illegal occupation of the West Bank.

How many Palestinians live in Israel?

According to Israel’s census, as of 2019, approximately 1.9 million Palestinians held Israeli citizenship.

Most are descendants of Palestinians who remained in Israel when the state was founded in 1948. Before the establishment of the state of Israel, approximately 750,000 Palestinians were expelled or fled, and thousands more were killed by Zionist militias. Israel continues to block their right of return while granting Jews from around the world the right to immigrate to Israel and the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.

More than 750,000 Israelis live in illegal settlements built on Palestinian-owned land in the occupied West Bank.

Under very limited circumstances, Palestinians living in East Jerusalem can apply for Israeli citizenship.

They must go through a difficult naturalization process, and a few can apply through family connections — but for most Palestinians in the illegally occupied territories, citizenship is next to impossible under current Israeli law.

In 2022, the Israeli media Haaretz reported that only 5% of Palestinians in East Jerusalem had successfully obtained Israeli citizenship since 1967.

For Palestinians with “permanent” residency status in Jerusalem, entering and living in Jerusalem is “a revocable privilege, not an inherent right,” rights groups say Hack.

Israel does not explicitly deny citizenship to non-Jews.

However, it has the Jewish Priority of Return Law, which provides Jews with almost automatic rights to immigrate and acquire citizenship. Others, including Palestinians, must regularly naturalize.

Palestinians living in Gaza or the West Bank are generally not allowed into Israel and require a permit in special circumstances, but these are extremely rare and difficult to obtain.

Even after obtaining a permit, they have to pass several checkpoints and other obstacles such as barricades, mounds, gates, barricades and trenches.

In 2023, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) documented 565 such barriers in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem but not the Israeli-controlled part of Hebron.

However, Palestinian men over 55 and women over 50 from the West Bank can enter East Jerusalem without a permit.

Jabalin told Al Jazeera the latest revocation was “part of the war against the Palestinians”.

“Palestinians in Gaza have suffered genocide, Palestinians in the West Bank face violence from settlers and the military, and now Palestinian citizens face the threat of having their citizenship revoked.”

What is the status of Palestinian citizens in Israel?

In addition to being subject to discriminatory legislation, Palestinian citizens also face Violence in Israel. In 2025, 300 people were murdered in Israel. in, Chapter 252 Is a Palestinian citizen.

Al Jazeera reports on how crime has spiked in Palestinian towns and villages across Israel. Gunmen attacked homes and businesses of Palestinian citizens.

About 38% of Palestinian households in Israel live below the poverty line, with many falling well below the poverty line, according to the Israel National Insurance Institute.

Thousands of Israeli Palestinian citizens “cannot live a normal life,” Aida Touma-Suleiman, a Palestinian member of the Knesset representing the left-wing Hadash-Taal faction, told Al Jazeera.

Unemployment is also a crisis facing Palestinian citizens in Israel. According to 2024 data, only 54% of Palestinian men and 36% of Palestinian women are employed in Israel, with already low employment levels falling sharply following the genocide in Gaza.