181 of the Palestinian Deportees Return After Nine Months of Exile

After nine months of exile, 181 of the Palestinian extremists who were deported to Lebanon last December have re-crossed the border and returned to the administered territories.

The deportees, who returned Thursday, left behind 207 other Palestinians, who are scheduled to return to Israel in December.

The deportees, all suspected members of the Islamic fundamentalist Hamas and Islamic Jihad movements, had been living in a tent camp at Marj al-Zahour in Lebanon, some two miles north of Israel’s buffer security zone.

Israel had agreed to allow 189 of the deportees to return, but eight decided to remain in Lebanon, fearing long prison terms if they accepted the offer, according to a camp spokesperson.

In all, Israel deported 415 Palestinians to Lebanon last December, following a series of murderous attacks by Muslim extremists within Israel.

According to a plan worked out by Israel in mid-August, the group of 189 detainees were to return this week, with the balance to return by the end of the year.

Nineteen of the original group were returned to Israel earlier this year because of illness or because Israeli authorities admitted they had been expelled in error.

The 181 returning deportees made their way on foot to the Zumriya crossing point, where tents had been erected for their processing.

After they were given medical examinations by Red Cross doctors and went through an identification process, the deportees were placed aboard waiting buses for a short trip to another holding area inside the security zone.

‘LET US HOPE’ THEY’VE LEARNED A LESSON

They then boarded two buses for their return to prisons and detention camps inside Israel and the territories.

The windows of the buses were painted over to conceal the identities of the passengers from curious passers-by, particularly those in Kiryat Shmona, many of whom were angered by Israel’s decision to free the deportees.

According to Israel Radio, the deportees were bound but not blindfolded, as they had been when they were deported last December. The transfer took from morning until late evening Thursday.

The returnees were scheduled to be questioned by Israeli security officials. Those who were under arrest before their deportation were to return to jail. Those not under suspicion of participating in terrorist acts were to be allowed to return to their homes.

“Let us hope that those who spent the past few months in Lebanon have learned a lesson and now know that the government of Israel will not rest in the face of violence and terrorism carried out against its citizens and soldiers,” said a statement issued by Israel’s Defense Ministry.

“The government and the security forces will not desist” to struggle “against those who perpetrate acts of terrorism and who seek to undermine the peace process,” and Israel “will not hesitate to take extraordinary measures against those who engage in terrorism,” it said.