Settler leadership wants mass expulsions of Palestinians

The leadership of the Jewish settlers in the West Bank and Gaza Strip on Sunday called for a "mass expulsion" of Palestinians…

The leadership of the Jewish settlers in the West Bank and Gaza Strip on Sunday called for a "mass expulsion" of Palestinians after an huge increase in anti-Israeli attacks.

"The terrorists, their families and the environment which supports them must be deported beyond the borders," the Council of Settlers, which represents religious settlements, said in a statement.

"The rules of the game must be changed," the council said, denouncing the "legal restrictions" on the expulsions which Israel has said will constrain its new policy, designed to deter future attackers.

The Israeli army has ordered three relatives of Palestinian militants expelled from the West Bank to the Gaza Strip, although two men appealed the decision in a military court Sunday.

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But the council said individual expulsions would not be sufficent to deter bombers, whose relatives may be dumped in the Gaza Strip and their homes demolished under Israel's new policy to counter persistant attacks on its citizens.

And far-right deputy Michael Kleiner of the Herut party, which has one seat out of 120, said Israel should "kill 1,000 Palestinians for each Israeli killed."

To that end he called for "air raids on Palestinian towns," according to a statement issued by Herut.

The radical Palestinian movement Hamas has said it will kill 100 Israelis for every one of its leaders slain, and its bombers have claimed the lives of at least 16 Israelis since it military chief Salah Shehade was killed on July 22 in an air strike on Gaza City which also killed 14 other people.

AFP