The Israeli Supreme Court has approved the deportation of two relatives of a suspected Palestinian suicide bomber, relocating them from the West Bank to the Gaza strip. In a ruling Tuesday, the nine-judge panel said the brother and sister, Intisar and Kifah Ajouri, can be transferred to Gaza for two years. They allegedly helped their brother, Ali Ajouri, organize a suicide bombing in which five people were killed.
The Palestinian cabinet convened in Ramallah Tuesday for its regular session and condemned the Israeli court’s decision. Palestinian labor minister Ghassan al-Khattib said it is collective punishment as well as a violation of human rights.
GHASSAN AL-KHATTIB, PALESTINIAN LABOR MINISTER (English)
“It is the responsibility of the United Nations to put an end to the new Israeli escalation represented by the deportation policy that is added to the other ongoing Israeli crimes, mainly killing Palestinians.”
Israel had sought the expulsions, hoping to deter terror attacks against Israeli civilians. Israeli defense minister Binyamin Ben Eliezer said Tuesday he hopes the ruling will make potential suicide bombers reconsider their actions and remember their families might be deported as a consequence.
BINYAMIN BEN ELIEZER, ISRAELI DEFENSE MINISTER (English)
“The fact that we can do that means that we have another possibility to do within the area in order to prevent or to strengthen the possibility to prevent such actions to take place.”
Mr. Ben Eleizer made the remarks on a visit to a construction site where Israel is building a fence to separate itself from the West Bank another measure it is taking to prevent terror attacks.