Israeli Military Expels 15 Palestinians
None participated directly in attacks on Israelis or had ``blood on their hands,'' an army statement said, but all were accomplices to violence.

The 15 were being held in military lockups without trial, in what is called administrative detention. They cannot be tried, the army said, without exposing sensitive intelligence sources. The detainees have already been moved to an army jail near the Gaza Strip and have two days to appeal.

Palestinian Cabinet minister Saeb Erekat said the army order ``is a very dangerous step'' and should be condemned by the international community.

In the past, the military has said expulsion acts as a deterrent, but Israel's Supreme Court, in a 2002 ruling, severely limited the practice to only those directly involved in violence.

Expulsion is an especially sensitive issue for Palestinians, many of whom were made refugees as they fled or were forced out of what is now Israel during Mideast wars. For most Palestinians, exile or any removal from their land and families is worse than prison.

The military has issued such expulsion orders only twice before, and three people accused of being accomplices to suicide bombings were sent to Gaza. One was said to have sewn belts to be fitted with explosives and strapped to suicide bombers' bodies. At first, the military wanted to expel 21 relatives of militants, but the Israeli court prevented that.

Even with the court's limitations, human rights groups say the practice violates international law.

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-Israel-Palestinians.html