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Rights group to court: Don't send Fatah refugees back to Gaza
By Tomer Zarchin, Avi Issacharoff, Yuval Azoulay and Amos Harel, Haaretz Correspondents and Reuters
Tags: Hamas, Fatah, Gaza, Israel

The Association for Civil Rights in Israel on Sunday petitioned the High Court of Justice to order the defense ministry to halt the deportation of Fatah members who fled the Gaza Strip over the weekend.

Deputy Supreme Court President Eliezer Rivlin has ordered Defense Minister Ehud Barak to respond to the petition by Monday afternoon.

"The matter of the petition, by its nature, cannot be deferred," wrote ACRI attorney Oded Feller in the petition. "Continuing [the process of] returning the asylum-seekers to Gaza is liable to endanger their lives, well-being and freedom."
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Feller said putting the asylum-seekers at such risk constitutes a serious violation of human rights, and added that Israel should take other steps that don't endanger their lives if they pose a security risk to the state.

He said neither Barak nor Attorney General Menachem Mazuz responded to his requests on the matter on Sunday.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday refused to grant West Bank asylum to dozens of supporters who fled Hamas-ruled Gaza to Israel under
fire, during fierce factional fighting.

Abbas stood his ground, with aides explaining that he felt his embattled Fatah group must maintain a presence in Gaza.

However, there were concerns that the returnees could face mistreatment by Hamas.

Hamas confirmed it detained the first group of 32 who were sent back to Gaza on Sunday, and said it had released all but five in that group.

The wrangling over the fate of the 188 Fatah refugees came a day after the bloodiest day of Hamas-Fatah fighting since the Hamas takeover of Gaza in June 2007. In all, 11 people were killed and dozens wounded during a Hamas raid on a Fatah stronghold in Gaza City on Saturday.

Meanwhile, the Palestinian Authority on Sunday urged a complete international boycott of Hamas and said it would work toward removing all recognition of it as a political movement, Israel Radio reported.

A Fatah representative in Ramallah, Fahmi A-Zahrir said Hamas must be taken out of the Palestinian Authority's legal demarcation, adding that the Islamist group had lost its right to political existence.

Hamas arrests Fatah men returned to Gaza by Israel

A Hamas official on Sunday said a group of Fatah men returned by Israel to the Gaza Strip were immediately detained by the Palestinian militant group's security forces.

Israel on Sunday returned to Gaza 32 members of a group of over 150 Fatah-linked men who had fled clashes with Hamas on Saturday, and was also planning to send the remaining men back to the coastal strip.

"After the occupation refused to receive most of those who fled Gaza, dozens have returned and the Palestinian police have taken them into custody," Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said.

Israel sent the group back on Sunday after Abbas and Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad withdrew an earlier request for Defense Minister Ehud Barak to allow the Gazans entry to Israel and then to transfer them to the West Bank.

The infighting with Hamas left at least nine people dead and more than 80 wounded.

Egypt was also a party to the PA's request on Saturday for Israel to allow entry to the men, who belong to the Hilles clan which is affiliated with Abbas' Fatah faction.

A spokesman for Barak said the wounded would remain in Israel for treatment and the rest would be returned to the Hamas-held territory.

Fatah leader Hussein Al-Shaikh, the senior civil affairs official in the Palestinian Authority, said: "We are discussing with the Israelis how to allow the people to return to Gaza."

Defense sources said it was likely that Fayyad and Abbas' backtracking is connected to power struggles within Fatah. The security establishment was examining on Sunday morning ways to ensure the safe return of the remaining men who fled Gaza.

Clan head: Hamas can't handle our powerful presence

Ahmed Khiles, the head of the clan, was among the group initially let into Israel. He was lightly wounded when he entered Israel, and was taken to the Soroka Medical Center in Be'er Sheva for treatment. One of his sons had been arrested by Hamas, while another was evacuated with him into Israel.

Hamas has a problem with my family because it is big and powerful," said the 56-year-old Hilles. "They don't want powerful people in the Strip."

Another member of the group, Atef Helles, one of the wounded, told Reuters television from his hospital bed: "Hamas raided our family, burnt our houses and terrified our children. That's why we ran from Gaza.

"They [Hamas] wanted some people from this area but we refused to hand them over," he said. "They attacked the area and fired rockets and grenades at us. Many were killed and wounded."

Saturday's fighting erupted when Hamas forces surrounded the Shejaia district of Gaza City to arrest 11 people suspected of a role in bombings that killed seven people, including five Hamas militants, on July 25.

Hamas security forces and members of the Hilles clan then exchanged mortar shell and machine gun fire all day Saturday in what was the most violent round yet of Hamas' weeklong crackdown of political rival Fatah.

Twelve of the wounded were children, hospital officials said, and eight people were in critical condition.

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      1.   again, more laughable! 10:58  |  bashar 03/08/08
      2.   If These Are Starving Gazans I`d Hate To See What They`d Look ... 11:07  |  Lavi 03/08/08
      3.   Hey - you aren`t on our payroll! 11:14  |  Clickfool 03/08/08
      4.   System working well 11:15  |  Big Al 03/08/08
      5.   Send the Dutch to Gaza too and let him enjoy with his friends 11:34  |  e.m Jordan is Palse 03/08/08
      6.   Sad to say 11:37  |  Edifice 03/08/08
      7.   why not let them go to the west bank via israel? 11:42  |  michelle 03/08/08
      8.   hamas & fatah 11:48  |  J. B. 03/08/08
      9.   confused 11:52  |  just me 03/08/08
      10.   PAL-ARABS: ONLY 2 OPTIONS ARE (A) HAMAS RULE (B) JORDANIAN RULE 11:53  |  G Marcus 03/08/08
      11.   Explanation to #7 12:50  |  Derek 03/08/08
      12.   Dark forces operating from India to Gaza! 12:50  |  lakshmi 03/08/08
      13.   I was going to post earlier but I couldn`t stop laughing 12:54  |  Denise Thompson 03/08/08
      14.   Dumb violence 13:05  |  Michael J 03/08/08
      15.   michelle 7 13:10  |  ChanahS 03/08/08
      16.   hospital fees 13:22  |  kenneth 03/08/08
      17.   Once again we see Palestinian "democracy" at work 13:23  |  Conroy 03/08/08
      18.   What is the ulterior motice in this headline? 13:39  |  Paul 03/08/08
      19.   Fatah/Hamas/Israel 13:53  |  stefani 03/08/08
      20.   PA is reliable 14:04  |  JIm 03/08/08
      21.   dutch blames ISRAELwhen Israel accepts and returns Gazans?O dutch 14:05  |  Vittorio 03/08/08
      22.   #6 Edifice 14:09  |  Jim 03/08/08
      23.   #19 stefani - Not all write in hatred 14:16  |  Yonatan 03/08/08
      24.   #7 Michelle 14:17  |  Jim 03/08/08
      25.   Need a scorecard to keep track of the betrayals 14:22  |  Aphemia 03/08/08
      26.   #11 Derek Guns` law 14:34  |  Jim 03/08/08
      27.   Yonatan 14:39  |  stefani 03/08/08
      28.   Israeli `Humanitarian Gestures` discontinued..... 14:48  |  Dagma 03/08/08
      29.   Where in the world is Natallie Durson and Mauren Ann 14:49  |  MJ 03/08/08
      30.   Why these `humanitarian gestures` ...? 15:02  |  Dagma 03/08/08
      31.   ISRAEL MUST NOT GET INVOLVED. 15:21  |  The Threadmill 03/08/08
      32.   Jim 24 - don`t be blinded by your prejudices 15:22  |  ChanahS 03/08/08
      33.   Israel does not loose oportunity to loose oportunity 15:31  |  paulo2005 03/08/08
      34.   It was so easy to guess this would happen ultimately.... 15:43  |  Dolly 03/08/08
      35.   Now IDF is fatah`s friend.. fffery nice indeed 15:47  |  sinalco 03/08/08
      36.   Dumb And Dumber Moves, Abbas 15:51  |  Jeff Northridge 03/08/08
      37.   for all those here, whothinkthey understand the middleeast!! 15:55  |  ex middleastern 03/08/08
      38.   Fishy 16:00  |  Eli 03/08/08
      39.   paulo2005, you are exposing your utter ignorance 16:20  |  Colonel 03/08/08
      40.   With friends like this who needs enemies? 16:43  |  The Bedouin 03/08/08
      41.   Israel should not get involved in Arab infighting 16:59  |  Dagma 03/08/08
      42.   Oh Yes and what about the Clans 17:00  |  FOX 03/08/08
      43.   Hey you in Beirut, #31 17:01  |  Barry 03/08/08
      44.   The shoe is on the other foot now 17:05  |  Tarzan 03/08/08
      45.   i was right in message 29 17:20  |  paulo 2005 03/08/08
      46.   Hamas Arrests Fatah Men.... 17:22  |  JordanisPalestine 03/08/08
      47.   I don`t understand... 17:36  |  sandra chitayat 03/08/08
      48.   Jim # 26 That`s Right Except For One Thing 17:39  |  Jeff Northridge 03/08/08
      49.   If some people have had doubts up to now, they should realize ... 17:59  |  Avihua 03/08/08
      50.   Own worst enemies? 18:03  |  Motic 03/08/08
      51.   Eli # 34 Napoleon Did It Twice 18:22  |  Jeff Northridge 03/08/08
      52.   Moral Army????LOL! 18:32  |  Rob 03/08/08
      53.   paulo 2005 # 38 The Decision Was Made By The PA 19:13  |  Jeff Northridge 03/08/08
      54.   To Rob who lectures on morality 19:15  |  Dan 03/08/08
      55.   Israel should have proposed a swap 19:25  |  KUTW 03/08/08
      56.   Hamas terrorizing children 19:28  |  KUTW 03/08/08
      57.   So hamas terrorizes (!!!) 19:30  |  KUTW 03/08/08
      58.   Palestinian State? 19:35  |  Lebanese Muslim 03/08/08
      59.   Israel should not take pals in 19:36  |  KUTW 03/08/08
      60.   Abbas and Fayyad: leadership in crisis 19:39  |  Ben Alofs 03/08/08
      61.   7. michelle: why not let them go to and peace efforts 19:40  |  KUTW