**Israel is set to impose a military order which could see tens of thousands of Palestinians deported from the occupied West Bank.**The order, which comes into force on Tuesday, could have “severe ramifications” for people in the West Bank human rights groups say.
It classifies people without the right Israeli paperwork as “infiltrators”.
Many residents of the West Bank have ID cards from neighbouring countries, or papers that list Gaza as their home.
Many other residents of the West Bank are married to other Palestinians who at one time lived in refugee camps in neighbouring Jordan, Egypt, Syria or Lebanon, and may not have Israeli-approved ID cards.
“The orders are worded so broadly such as theoretically allowing the military to empty the West Bank of almost all its Palestinian inhabitants,” a letter signed by 10 human rights organisations to Defence Minister Ehud Barak said.
“Despite the severe ramifications of the orders, the authorities did not publicize their existence among the Palestinian population as required, which raises grave concerns that they intended to pass them secretly without public debate or judicial review.”
72 Hours
But the IDF said Israel was within its rights to tighten restrictions on people in the West Bank illegally, and the order was being amended to allow what it called “judicial oversight” in cases of accused “illegal sojourners”.
Under the military order, anyone without the right papers authorised by the commanding officer of the Israeli Defence Forces can be deported form the West Bank within 72 hours.
Such papers have not been required before.
Suspected “infiltrators” could also be jailed for up to seven years under the new laws.
Even if someone can prove they are in the territory legally, a group of human rights campaign organisations say, they still could find themselves facing three years in jail if they do not have the permission to remain given by the IDF.
Anyone being removed would have to pay for the cost of their own deportation, Human rights organisations said.
‘Stateless’
The group of 10 Human rights groups in Israel who condemned the new orders included Betselem, HaMoked, the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, and Rabbis for Human rights.
Many Palestinians in the West Bank hold ID cards from neighbouring countries that Israel classifies as its enemies, because they have returned from refugee camps there over the last few years.
Some have no identity cards and are technically “stateless persons”, according to media reports.
The order could also apply to people from foreign countries friendly to Israel, like the US, UK and Europe.
The IDF said said in a statement that all the requisite notices of the change to the orders had been given.
“The IDF is ready to implement the order, which is not intended to apply to Israelis, but to illegal sojourners in Judea and Samaria [the West Bank]. This is a pre-existing order which was corrected to assure judicial oversight of the extradition process,” a statement from the IDF said.This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.