The Israeli army deported on Tuesday a Palestinian freed prisoner from the West Bank city of Jenin to the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, said an organization that defends prisoners.

The pro-Hamas Wa'ed Association for prisoners' affairs said in a statement that Israel deported Mahmoud Azzam, 52, resident of Jenin to the Gaza Strip after he finished his 12-year-imprisonmentterm in Israeli prisons.

Wa'ed condemned the Israeli policy of deporting freed Palestinian prisoners, saying it "contradicts with the international laws that prohibits deportation of people under any circumstance."

Azzam is the nephew of Abdulla Azzam, who fought the Russians in Afghanistan during the Russian-Afghani war in early 1980s. He was arrested by Israel later and was sentenced to 12 years in prison.

Azzam, who has no relatives in the blocked strip, was brought to Erez crossing point between Gaza's northern tip and Israel. He crossed Erez and then was received by Wa'ed members and other people who know him.

Israel has deported several Palestinian freed prisoners in the West Bank to Gaza, saying these prisoners would be affective on its security if they remain in the West Bank.

Wa'ed called on the international community "to exert pressure on Israel to stop this policy."