The unanimous ruling by a special nine-judge panel came in the case of three Palestinians whom the Israeli military ordered expelled from the West Bank to the Gaza Strip.

The court upheld the expulsions of Intisar and Kifah Ajouri, sister and brother of Ali Ajouri, who allegedly organized several suicide bombings. It blocked the expulsion of Abdel Nasser Asidi, brother of a Hamas activist accused of involvement in two West Bank bus ambushes that killed 19 Israelis.

Ali Ajouri was killed Aug. 6 in an Israeli army attack.

The court said that Intisar and Kifah Ajouri had advance knowledge of the attacks being planned by their brother. The army had said that Intisar Ajouri had sewn the explosives belt used in one of the attacks.

The case pitted human rights claims against Israeli security concerns.

The Israeli government argued that expulsions, along with house demolitions, create an important deterrent against suicide bombings and other attacks on Israeli civilians. Human rights lawyers said expulsions violate international law.

The chief justice, Aharon Barak, had cut short his summer vacation to preside over the hearings.

A decade ago, the Supreme Court upheld the deportation of more than 400 suspected Islamic militants from the West Bank and Gaza Strip to south Lebanon.

(China Daily September 3, 2002)