The Palestinian Authority has handed over Palestinian activist Mahmoud al-Adra, known as "Hisham Harb", to French authorities , according to family sources who spoke to The New Arab .
The handover took place on Thursday morning, with al-Adra first transferred to Jordan before being flown to France, following months of French requests for his extradition.
Family members said they had received a phone call between 10:30 and 11:00 a.m. from the Ramallah and al-Bireh police chief, informing them that al-Adra was on his way to Jordan in preparation for his transfer to France.
Other sources confirmed that he was later flown from Jordan to France on a private aircraft.
According to the same sources, a Ramallah Magistrate's Court session scheduled for Thursday to consider France's extradition request went ahead without al-Adra being brought before the court.
Sources familiar with the case said there had been no official confirmation of his whereabouts, reinforcing the belief that the handover took place before a Palestinian judicial ruling on the request.
Earlier, Palestinian official sources told The New Arab that Harb, who is wanted by French authorities, had escaped from a hospital in Ramallah early Tuesday and returned to his family home in the town of Yatta, south of Hebron.
Palestinian security forces later rearrested him after raiding the house.
The sources added that around six members of his family, including men and women, were detained in connection with his escape.
His family also said Palestinian police had repeatedly requested his passport earlier this week, which they viewed as a clear indication that arrangements were underway to hand him over within days.
Mahmoud al-Adra, born in 1955 and known by his nom de guerre "Hisham Harb", is a retired colonel in the Palestinian security services.
He was first arrested by Palestinian police on 19 September, just days before France formally recognised the State of Palestine at the UN General Assembly.
Although a Palestinian court ordered his release on 5 November 2025 on the condition that he attend court hearings, he was rearrested more than a month ago. Sources confirmed on Thursday that the extradition to France has now been completed.
The handover comes despite significant legal objections raised by his defence team.
His lawyer, Mohammed Al-Harini, previously told The New Arab that Palestinian law prohibits the extradition of Palestinian nationals, stressing that his client does not hold French citizenship and that no bilateral extradition agreement exists between France and the Palestinian Authority.
"There is no legal foundation that could allow the Palestinian judiciary to extradite Mahmoud Khadr Al-Adra to the French authorities," he said, adding that the only legal basis cited was a 1927 British Mandate-era law that he argued was no longer valid and contradicts Palestinian law.
Al-Harini also noted that the case relates to a 1982 attack in Paris, raising questions over statutory limitations given the decades that have passed.
The extradition request is linked to allegations of involvement in an attack on a Paris restaurant in 1982 that killed six people and wounded at least 20.