Following meetings held throughout the day by the IDF and the security establishment in Israel, the IDF is preparing to transfer what the army spokesman called "the rescued Fatah operatives" to the West Bank (Judea and Samaria).
188 men who were fleeing from the Hamas, some of them armed, had been allowed entry into Israel on Saturday night as a result of a decision by the political echelon made on humanitarian grounds. Twenty two of the men were injured and were provided with medical care in Israel.
Late Monday, the IDF reported that 88 "refugees" were bound for the Jericho area. No word on the destination of the remainder. Some remain in Israeli hospitals.
On Sunday, at the request of Palestinian President Mr. Mahmoud Abbas and Palestinian Prime minister Salam Fayyad -- who, according to the IDF spokesman "took responsibility for their security" -- the IDF began returning the escaped Fatah members to the Gaza strip.
Israeli authorities halted the process, however, after they received information that the Fatah men were being arrested by Hamas and that their lives were in immediate danger. This development, apparently, came as a big surprise.
Minister of Defense Ehud Barak ordered a re-evaluation of the situation and opened direct discussions with Palestinian officials, the IDF spokesman said, "to convince them to allow the refugees entry to the Ramallah area instead."
The decision not to send the Fatah men back to the Strip also came after the Association for Civil Rights in Israel petitioned the High Court of Justice. The petitioners stated that forcing the Fatah loyalists to return to the Strip could endanger their lives, and called the repatriation a serious violation of human rights and of Israeli law.
The debate over the fate of the Fatah refugees came a day after the bloodiest day of Hamas-Fatah fighting since the Islamic terror group seized control over Gaza in June 2007. 11 people were killed and nearly 100 wounded during a Hamas raid on a Fatah stronghold in Gaza City on Saturday.
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