OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, April 18 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - The Israeli Supreme Court ordered Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's government on Thursday, April 18, to defend its decision to grant the army sweeping powers to detain thousands of Palestinians in its military reoccupation of the West Bank.

Israel's highest judicial body ordered a government representative to appear within 15 days to explain the official decision allowing the army to detain Palestinians for up to 18 days without presenting formal charges.

"The government must explain its position, and then the court will rule whether it is satisfied with the defense, or whether the government order must be overturned," said Supreme Court spokeswoman Tamar Paul-Cohen.

The court decision came in response to appeals filed by a number of Palestinian rights groups, who contend the military was carrying out mass arrests on the West Bank, breaking international conventions in the process.

Sharon's government admitted Thursday that 5,600 Palestinians had been detained since the West Bank incursions aimed at detaining suspected militants behind a wave of Israeli suicide bombings were launched on March 29.

Some 3,900 of those detained have since been released, the government said.

Sharon's aggressive campaign has drawn widespread international condemnation.

Separately, the court gave the state's attorneys 80 days to investigate whether Sharon's government had the right to allow the army to pursue "targeted killings" of Palestinian militants who appear on its most-wanted list.