Israel Expels 8 Palestinians to S. Lebanon : 6 Are From Village Where Settler Girl Was Shot in Melee

Israel today expelled eight Arabs accused of leading the Palestinian uprising, including six men suspected of involvement in an attack on a group of Israeli hikers that left a Jewish teen-ager and two Palestinians dead.

The expulsions brought to 20 the number of Palestinians deported to southern Lebanon since anti-Israel rioting erupted in the West Bank and Gaza nearly five months ago. Security sources have told United Press International that dozens more will be expelled if the unrest does not end by summer.

The deportations were condemned by Palestinians and leftist Israelis, who predicted that the move will spark a new round of riots.

“It is a harsh and unjustified punishment, and we hope this punishment will be stopped by the government,” said Fayez abu Rahme, a Gaza lawyer.

“I think it’s unbelievable,” said Felicia Langer, an Israeli civil rights attorney. “It only shows that the Israeli authorities want to add gasoline as much as possible to the fire in the occupied territories.”

Curfews Enforced

The Israeli move, which came as the army enforced curfews on 23 villages and U.N. refugee camps in an attempt to prevent new riots, is likely to spark more violence in the occupied territories. At least 167 Palestinians and two Israelis have died in the unrest.

The eight men were flown in an army helicopter to the village of Hasbayya, in the northeast sector of the Israeli-declared “security zone” in southern Lebanon, then turned loose, military officials said.

Like all Arab states, Lebanon has announced that it will refuse to accept deportees from Israel. But Israel and the South Lebanon Army, its surrogate militia, control the security zone, established in 1985 in an effort to prevent guerrilla attacks on northern Israel.

Six of the men were residents of the West Bank village of Beita, where an Israeli teen-age girl and two Palestinians were killed April 6 during a clash between rock-throwing villagers and a group of Israeli youths and two adult guards on a Passover holiday hike.

The army has determined that the girl, Tirza Porat, 15, was killed by a stray bullet fired from the M-16 automatic rifle carried by one of her escorts. But the military has arrested more than 30 people, demolished 14 houses and destroyed acres of olive trees to punish residents for taking part in the stoning of the hikers.

Dropped Right to Appeal

The two other men were from the West Bank towns of Ramallah and Kfar Dik.

All eight had dropped their right to a limited appeal to a military advisory council and the High Court of Justice, Israel’s highest court, officials said.

The deportation orders were issued April 11, the same day Israel expelled eight other Arabs for involvement in the Palestinian unrest.

Those expulsions ended an unofficial three-month freeze on deportations. The government suspended use of the practice in the face of worldwide criticism of the deportations of four Palestinians in January.