GAZA, April 23 (UPI) -- The Hamas leadership says it will not allow Palestinians deported by Israel from the West Bank to enter Gaza.
Hamas de facto Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh said the deportees will be housed at a tent erected at the Erez crossing, but international rights groups allegedly are insisting they be permitted to go back to the West Bank to join their families, news agency Ma'an reported.
New Israeli military orders, expanding the definition of an "infiltrator" who can be deported to include anyone living in the West Bank without Israeli permission, went into effect April 13.
Haniyeh said Hamas would force a reversal of the policy by making it impossible for Israel to move deportees into Gaza, the news agency said.
"The regulation simply will not be allowed to stand," he explained.
Refusing Palestinians entry to Gaza is not intended to keep Palestinians from living where they choose, Haniyeh said, but rather an insistence that Israel allow them live where they want in the nation, Ma'an reported.
