Israel said it would allow around 150 Fatah loyalists who fled fighting in the Gaza Strip to take refuge in the West Bank, reversing its decision to repatriate them to the Hamas-ruled territory.

Some 30 members of the Hilles clan, whose members are mostly Fatah supporters, were returned to Gaza by Israeli forces yesterday and were promptly arrested for interrogation by Hamas security services. In a recent report, a human rights group accused both Hamas and Fatah – which rules the West Bank – of torturing detainees, some of whom had died in custody.

In view of the immediate detentions, Israel decided to stop the repatriations. Around 150 of the men who fled Gaza over the weekend would be allowed to travel to the West Bank, the Army said in a statement.

Dozens of those who arrived in Israel were suffering from gunshot and shrapnel wounds after Hamas launched a major assault on the clan’s stronghold in Gaza City, forcing them to flee to Israel for shelter. Several said they were afraid of being deported back to Gaza after they were treated in hospital, saying they feared being beaten and tortured in Hamas’ jails.

Some of the wounded said they would rather remain in Israel, where medical treatment is of a higher standard, than be sent to the impoverished West Bank. “I’d rather stay in Israel, it’s a lot better than Ramallah,” said one wounded man, who asked not to be identified.

It was not clear who initially took the decision to send the first batch of uninjured refugees back to Gaza. There were reports in the Israeli media that the West Bank leadership of Mahmoud Abbas, the Fatah chief and Palestinian president, had asked for them to be repatriated. There was friction between Fatah and the Hilles clan last year, when the mainstream political movement accused the massive, well-armed clan of not doing enough to resist the Hamas military takeover of Gaza.

A Fatah official in the West Bank hinted that the movement was worried about losing its last support base in the Gaza Strip, which has been entirely isolated from the outside world by a year-long blockade and is under tight Islamist rule.

"Fatah officials in Gaza should stay in their posts and should not leave Gaza to Hamas," said Fahmi Zaghrir, a Fatah spokesman.

At least 11 people were killed and scores more wounded in the latest Hamas crackdown, part of a sweep launched by the hardline movement after a bomb attack at a seaside café in Gaza City that killed four of its senior security officials and a young girl. The Islamists blamed the attack on Fatah.

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