OCCUPIED
JERUSALEM, July 19 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Defying
international human rights groups’ warnings, the Israeli occupation
army early Friday, July 19, 2002, abducted 21 close relatives of
suspected suicide bombers in the West Bank and intended to expel them
to the Gaza Strip, it was officially announced, Agence France-Presse
(AFP) reported.
It
was the first time since the start of the Intifada (uprising against
Israeli occupation) in September 2000 that Israel had officially
announced carrying out such a measure of collective punishment.
The
army announced the arrest in the north of the West Bank of male
relatives of those responsible for a double suicide operation
Wednesday in Tel Aviv and relations of people who carried out an
operation on a bus near the settlement of Emmanuel.
The
army said its bulldozers have further destroyed the homes of two of
the bombers, AFP added.
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Nothing
“can justify Israel's indiscriminate punishment,” said
Amnesty
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Israeli
state radio said that “twenty-one” of the “fathers and
brothers” of suicide bombers had been arrested to be expelled to the
Gaza Strip. This was confirmed by Foreign Minister Shimon Peres.
In
an attempt to force Palestinian freedom fighters to surrender, the
Israeli army has been using their parents and relatives in a policy of
collective punishment, which includes expelling families, demolishing
their homes, and using them as human shields.
On
Sunday, June 23, the Israeli government decided to look into the legal
possibility of expelling families of resistance fighters who carry out
operations in Israel, in a new move aimed at cracking down on such
operations, while the Israeli army continued its reoccupation of more
West Bank cities.
Human
rights groups, including in Israel, have slammed any move by Israel to
expel families of Palestinian resistance fighters.
On
Wednesday, June 26, human rights watchdog Amnesty International
accused Israel of breaking the Geneva convention and abusing human
rights by punishing Palestinians with indiscriminate security
measures.
