The Israeli army has deported three alleged Palestinian fighters from the West Bank to the fenced-in Gaza Strip without charge, further pursuing a policy condemned around the world.
Ahmed al-Mushkah, 27, from Jenin, was ferried to the Erez crossing on the Gaza boundary, Israeli army sources told Reuters.
“Even if Israel transfers all Palestinians, anywhere in the world, it will not help it,” Mushkah told reporters upon arrival.
He claims to be a member of Islamic Jihad which has vowed to destroy Israel. The organization has been, along with Hamas, the main proponent of human bombing campaigns in the three-year-old Intifada.
Hamas claim
Military sources said Mushkah instead belonged to Hamas and would be joined later on Sunday by two other members of the Islamic group from the West Bank, Alla Hassuna and Samer Bader.
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“Even if Israel transfers all Palestinians, anywhere in the world, it will not help it”
Ahmed al-Mushkah |
The three men were among 18 West Bank Palestinians slated for expulsion to Gaza for alleged militant activity, having exhausted Supreme Court appeals against the Israeli decision.
The first two on the roster were deported earlier this month.
“This transfer is a huge crime against our people,” Palestinian National Security chief Major-General Abdel-Razek al-Majayda told Reuters.
Security sources
Describing the expulsions as “residency demarcation,” an army source, who declined to be named, said the move was a preventive measure taken against Palestinians who could not be tried for fear of exposing intelligence sources.
Palestinians and international human-rights groups say such deportations are violations of international law. Last year, Israel deported to Gaza two Palestinians accused of helping a suicide bomber.