Israel on Saturday ordered four Palestinian activists deported. It made the announcement a day after Moslem fundamentalists stabbed three Jews to death. The four will be allowed to appeal to the Israeli Supreme Court, the army said. If upheld, the expulsions would be the first since August 1989, when five Palestinians were expelled for their roles in the uprising against Israeli rule. Sixty Arabs have been expelled since the uprising began in December 1987. In Washington, the State Department denounced Saturday's deportation orders. ``The United States deplores this decision by the government of Israel,'' State Department spokesman Alan Shub said. ``We've consistently ... held that such deportations are a violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention as it pertains to the treatment of inhabitants of occupied territories.'' Other nations in the past have also condemned deportations as a violation of human rights. In the recent outbreak of anti-Israeli violence that followed the Oct. 8 Temple Mount riot, in which 17 Palestinians were killed, some Israeli politicians have called for reinstating deportations. Israel radio said the four ordered expelled were residents of the occupied Gaza Strip and were members of the Moslem fundamentalist movement Hamas, or Zeal. The radio said the activists were arrested along with hundreds of other Hamas members after Moslem fundamentalists stabbed three Jews to death Friday in the Arab-Jewish town of Jaffa, adjacent to Tel Aviv. The army would not say how many Arabs were arrested; Arab reports said it was nearly 500. The army said the four all took part in violent activities. But it was not clear if they were suspected of involvement in the killings. Earlier, police said two Palestinians were wanted in Friday's killings of the Jews, and they were believed to be hiding in Gaza. Also Saturday, Israel restricted the number of Palestinians allowed to leave the Gaza Strip as part of its search for the assailants. The army command initially sealed off Gaza, confining its 750,000 Arab residents to the area and barring journalists from entering. But it later lifted the closure, allowing Palestinians who met strict security criteria to enter Israel. Arab reporters said Dr. Abdel Aziz Rantizi, a founder of Hamas, was one of the arrested. Two men who preach at the Al Aqsa mosque on the Temple Mount also were detained, Arab reports said. Hamas marked the third anniversary of its founding Friday and had called on Palestinians to honor the date by escalating their uprising against Israel. The Arabs who killed the Jews sprayed Moslem fundamentalist slogans on the walls before fleeing, police said. Radio reports said the government would discuss Friday's attack at its weekly meeting Sunday. Curfews were in place Saturday in parts of the Gaza Strip and West Bank to prevent violence on the Hamas anniversary. The curfews meant that about 250,000 Arabs were confined to their homes. In other incidents, paramilitary border police clashed with masked youths in east Jerusalem in the Arab neighborhood of Silwan. Jerusalem police spokesman Aharon Elhayani said one youth was injured slightly by a rubber bullet. In the Gaza town of Rafah, masked men fatally shot Akram Hosli Aram, 18, in the head. An activist group said Aram, who worked as a laborer in Israel, was killed for collaborating with Israeli authorities. Aram's death brought to 318 the number of Palestinians killed by fellow Arabs during the 3-year-old uprising, most on suspicion of collaborating with Israel. At least 778 Arabs have been killed by Israeli civilians or soldiers during the revolt. Friday's deaths raised to 57 the number of Israelis who have died in the violence.
