The U.N. secretary-general issued a statement Friday saying he was “greatly dismayed” by Israel’s expulsion of eight Palestinians to Lebanon.
Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar called the deportations “a clear violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention and Lebanese sovereignty.”
But there appeared Friday to be no move to bring the matter before the U.N. Security Council.
Israel deported the Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza Strip on June 29, alleging that they were leaders of the nearly 19-month-old uprising. Their expulsion brought the number of Palestinians deported since the beginning of the uprising to 55.
But Israel believes such expulsions do not violate Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, said Barukh Binah, a spokesman for Israel’s Mission to the United Nations.
Israel’s position, he explained, is that the convention only prohibits mass deportations and does not apply to the expulsion of individuals for security reasons.
The U.N. secretary-general said that he hoped Israel would rescind its order and that “the deportees will promptly be allowed to return to their homes and families.”
In fact, Israel may be willing for the first time to consider allowing the deportees to return home eventually.
Israeli Defense Minister Yitzhak Rabin told Israel Radio on Thursday that their return would depend on their “immediate and complete cessation of all acts of violence against Israel.”
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