An Israeli military court has approved the expulsion of three Palestinian militants from the West Bank to the Gaza Strip in the first application of a controversial new deterrent policy.
The court in the West Bank settlement of Beit El made its decision in the case of Intissar Adjuri, 34, from the Askar refugee camp near Nablus, whose brother is wanted in connection with a July ambush of a Jewish settler bus in which nine people were killed.
But the ruling also applies to her brother Kifah, 28, and Abdel Nasser Assidi, 34, from the village of Tel, whose brother is also wanted in connection with the attack.
If the trio are thrown out to the Gaza Strip, it will be the first time Israel has used the controversial penalty, which many rights groups slam as collective punishment, since the current Palestinian uprising began in September 2000.
The Israeli army and right-wing dominated government have sought tougher measures against the families of Palestinian militants as a new form of retaliation and deterrence.
The three were among 21 Palestinians arrested last month because they were related to militants who killed a total of 14 people in two bloody July attacks.
Israeli law, inherited from the inter-war mandate period of British rule, allows for the transfer of Palestinians living in the West Bank or Gaza Strip if it transpires "they personally represent a security threat."
But the United States has voiced its disapproval of the controversial deportation move, while Palestinians have called it a "war crime" in breach of international law.
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said he was "deeply concerned" by the proposed Israeli policy and urged its government to respect the fourth Geneva Convention.
AFP