Morocco has agreed to hand over a Palestinian to Israel, a first in the history of relations between the kingdom and the Jewish state. This national aged around 20 is accused of planting a bomb at the Ministry of Health office in Nazareth in November 2021.
Nassim Khalibat managed to flee Israel to Morocco in March 2022. Nine months later, in January 2023, he was arrested in Rabat. The Moroccan authorities then informed the Israeli authorities that this Israeli Arab had been arrested.
“For the first time, Morocco agreed to extradite a Palestinian to Israel”
Shortly after, Israel officially submitted an extradition request to Moroccan authorities. Last November, Morocco approved the extradition procedure to Israel. Nassim Khalibat landed in Israel this Tuesday, December 17, reports Spanish journalist Ignacio Cembrero.
« For the first time, Morocco agreed to extradite to Israel a Palestinian, Nassim Khalibat, accused of planting a bomb at the Nazareth post office annex in 2021 », Wrote the journalist in a tweet published this Tuesday.
The information was also confirmed by Israeli media. Khalibat is suspected of planting an explosive object near the Ministry of Health office in Nazareth on November 8, 2021, with his brother and another relative.
While Nassim Khalibat managed to leave Israel for Morocco, the two other suspects were apprehended at the time and tried in the Nazareth District Court. In December 2022, Israeli authorities issued an arrest warrant against Palestinian Nassim Khalibat. The charges against him carry a minimum sentence of 15 years in prison.
Morocco – Israel: The extradition of Khalibat is a first since normalization between the two countries
During the arrest of this Palestinian in Rabat in 2023, the Israeli Ministry of Justice requested his extradition, particularly given the normalized relations with Morocco within the framework of the Abraham Accords signed in December 2020 between the two countries.
The request for extradition of the national came even though no extradition agreement had been signed between Israel and Morocco. Israeli media indicate that in June 2023, a Moroccan judge would have granted Israel’s extradition request.
The extradition this Tuesday, December 17 of Nassim Khalibat is also a historic first since the normalization of diplomatic relations between the two countries three years ago.
However, the detention of this Palestinian in Morocco had sparked controversy, as several Moroccan human rights organizations had called on the Moroccan authorities not to extradite him to Israel.
