An Israeli court decided to expel a Hamas official from his hometown of Jerusalem to the West Bank, the parliamentary bloc of the Islamic movement said Tuesday.

The lawmaker, Ahmed Attoun, was one of four Jerusalem citizens who ran in Palestinians' 2006 elections under Hamas' list. Israel, which recognizes Hamas as a terrorist group, then took away the four officials' citizenship.

The court ruled that Attoun was staying illegally in Jerusalem, according to a statement by Hamas. The lawmaker, who is currently held in an Israeli prison, would be sent to the West bank city of Ramallah.

Attoun was arrested two months ago when he went out of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) headquarters in East Jerusalem, where he and his colleagues took refuge to avoid being expelled from the city.

A year ago, Israel also expelled another one of the four Hamas lawmakers to the West Bank.

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