Bomber's relatives expelled by Israel

JERUSALEM - Israel last night expelled a Palestinian brother and sister from the West Bank to Gaza after its Supreme Court upheld the Army's finding that they had helped their brother organise a suicide bombing.

Ali Ajouri was killed by Israeli forces last month and his family home demolished by bulldozers after the bombing.

Palestinians and Amnesty International called the ruling against the appeal of Kifah and Intisar Ajouri - who will be isolated for two years in the Gaza Strip, 45km from the West Bank at their closest points - a blow to human rights.

But in what Israeli legal experts described as a setback to the military, the court's landmark decision set limits on internationally condemned plans to expel families of Palestinian militants as a deterrent to future attackers.

The nine-judge panel ruled unanimously that a militant's relative could not be expelled solely on the basis of family ties but had to pose a security risk, even if the Army believed deportation could dissuade others from mounting attacks.

Palestine called the decision - Israel's first resort in a decade to a policy of expulsion - a "black day for human rights". A third Palestinian won his appeal against an Army expulsion order.

Israel, faced with the deadliest wave of suicide bombings in its history, sparked outcry from human rights advocates when it announced several months ago that it intended to use expulsion as a weapon.

Amnesty International said after the ruling that the "unlawful and forcible transfer" of Palestinians under Israeli occupation was a war crime under the Fourth Geneva Convention and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.

* President George W. Bush is to ask Congress to provide US$200 million for Israel and US$50 million for humanitarian relief in Palestinian areas.

- REUTERS

Feature: Middle East

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