AL QUDS, Aug 3: Two Palestinians threatened with expulsion from the West Bank to Gaza Strip, appealed to Israel’s Supreme Court on Saturday to open the closed military court hearings on their affair, legal sources said.

Lawyers for the two men, whose brothers are wanted for a roadside ambush on a bus outside the Jewish settlement of Emmanuel on July 16 which killed nine Israelis, made the appeal after the tribunal adjourned for the weekend on Friday.

The closed court is set to reopen hearings Sunday in the case of Gaza Kifah Adjuri, 28, from Askar refugee camp, and Abdel Nasser Assidi, 34, from the village of Tel, both in the West Bank.

The men’s lawyers argue their clients have no connection to any anti-Israeli attacks.

If they are expelled, it will be the first time Israel has used the controversial penalty, which many rights groups slam as collective punishment, since the current Palestinian uprising began in September 2000.

Adjuri and Assidi appealed to the military tribunal Friday after the cabinet and army leadership decided to expel them. If they are refused, the men can make a final appeal to the Supreme Court to overturn the ruling..—AFP