Israeli military will expel relatives of terrorist suspects

JERUSALEM -- A military court on Monday approved the expulsion of three Palestinian relatives of suspected terrorists from the West Bank to Gaza, the Israeli military said.

The expulsions would be a new Israeli tactic aimed at discouraging Palestinians from carrying out attacks. Human-rights activists said the decision would be appealed to Israeli civilian courts.

In a statement, the Israeli military said it would carry out the expulsions "in the framework of the struggle against suicide terrorism and its supporting environment."

Palestinian political factions, meanwhile, gave in to militant groups and scrapped a call for an end to attacks on Israeli civilians. Instead, the groups, meeting in Gaza City to try to create a "national unity leadership," endorsed the Palestinians' 2-year-old uprising against Israel.

"We stress the legitimacy of our resistance against the (Israeli) aggression and the occupation, and the Israeli settlements," said the latest draft, obtained Monday by The Associated Press.

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

Israel decided on expulsion of relatives of suspected attackers as a deterrent measure last month.

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

Arafat aide Nabil Abu Rdeneh called for international intervention to stop the expulsions. "The results of such a step will be the destruction of international and Arab efforts to help (bring) peace in the region," he said.

Palestine reforms

The unity meeting followed pressure on the Palestinian leadership, headed by Yasser Arafat, to make sweeping reforms. The political factions want to establish unified positions in preparation for elections in January and other planned changes.

The factions say they want to involve all major groups -- including the militant Hamas and Islamic Jihad that have carried out many of the suicide bombings against Israel.

The Palestinian leadership has said it believes it can exert influence over Hamas and similar groups by including them.

Arafat's Fatah movement was the driving force behind the current meetings, and it offered a draft proposal that called for an end to attacks against civilians inside Israel.

The proposed call for ending attacks on civilians was dropped because the more militant groups opposed it. The draft now under consideration says, "the uprising and resistance and political work are all means practiced by our people to achieve our national goals."

The factions have agreed to the draft in principle, though Hamas was consulting its leadership before formalizing its acceptance. If all factions agree, Palestine would establish leadership with members from all parties. The body would consult with Arafat and the Palestinian Authority before Palestinian elections, tentatively set for January.

However, current Palestinian leadership would remain in place, and the powers of the proposed new body would appear to be limited.

Israel opposes Hamas' inclusion in Palestinian leadership.

"Hamas is a terrorist organization dedicated to the destruction of Israel, and all talks between them and the Palestinian Authority until now have come to nothing," said Mark Sofer, a spokesman for Israel's Foreign Ministry.