Court upholds Palestinians' expulsion

A military court today approved the expulsion of three Palestinian relatives of suspected terrorists from the West Bank to Gaza, Israel TV reported.

The expulsions would be the first of their kind, a new Israeli tactic aimed at discouraging Palestinians from carrying out attacks.

The three Palestinians have 12 hours to appeal the decision to an Israeli civilian court.

The Israeli Defence Ministry and military refused to comment on the report.

The three Palestinians are Intisar and Kifah Ajouri, sister and brother of Ali Ajouri, who is accused of handing belts with explosives over to suicide bombers, and Abdel Nasser Asidi, brother of a Hamas activist who is suspected of killing several Israelis.

Dalia Kerstein, of the human rights group Moked, which has been handling the defence of the three, said the group received notification that the military court had upheld the expulsion orders against two of the three, and said the expulsion would not be implemented until tomorrow, giving time for an appeal.

Intisar Ajouri was not on the list, she said.

Israel decided on expulsion of relatives of suspected attackers, including suicide bombers, as a deterrent measure last month, at one point arresting 19 relatives, apparently intending to send them all to Gaza.

However, Attorney General Elyakim Rubinstein ruled that only relatives who were directly connected to the attacks could be punished.

Palestinians have denounced the policy as collective punishment.