+972 Magazine reports:

The United States is quietly deporting Palestinians arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to the occupied West Bank by private jet, with two such flights taking place in coordination with the Israeli authorities since the beginning of this year — part of a secretive and politically sensitive operation revealed through a joint investigation by +972 Magazine and The Guardian.

Eight Palestinian men — shackled for the entire journey by their wrists and ankles — were flown from an ICE deportation hub in Phoenix, Arizona on Jan. 20 and arrived in Tel Aviv the following morning after refueling stops in New Jersey, Ireland, and Bulgaria. After arriving at Ben Gurion Airport, the men were put in a vehicle with an armed Israeli police officer and released at a military checkpoint outside the Palestinian town of Ni’lin in the West Bank.

The same private jet, which belongs to an Israeli-American property tycoon who is a friend and long-time business associate of President Donald Trump, conducted an almost identical journey on Monday this week, but the number of passengers onboard and most of their identities remain unclear.

According to people familiar with the details, the eight men deported on the initial flight, which was first reported by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, are residents of West Bank towns and cities including Bethlehem, Hebron, Silwad, Ramun, Bir Nabala, and Al-Ram. Some of them have held green cards, and several have wives, children, and other close family members in the United States. Some had been detained in ICE facilities for weeks; at least one was held for over a year. [Continue reading…]