Deal reached to end Bethlehem siege

BBC News ^ | Sunday, 5 May, 2002, 21:30 GMT 22:30 UK | BBC News

[colette_g]

Deal reached to end Bethlehem siege

Israel and the Palestinians have reached an agreement to end the standoff at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem.

Details have not yet been published, but it is understood that some of the Palestinians whose arrest Israel has been demanding will go to Gaza and others will be exiled, perhaps to Italy.

The deal comes as Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon heads for the United States where he is scheduled to meet President George W Bush on Tuesday.

More than 200 Palestinians, including about 30 gunmen, fled into the church 2 April.

Israeli forces surrounded the church, which marks the traditional birthplace of Jesus, demanding that the gunmen surrender or be exiled.

[Thane_Banquo]

Israel and the Palestinians have reached an agreement to end the standoff at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem.

I sure hope the deal is along the lines of, "IDF agrees to shoot the Palestinian terrorists, and the Palestinian terrorists agree to die."

[Bobby777]

does this deal include getting rid of Yasser Arafat and putting him in charge of french fries at the Jenin Jack-in-the-Box? ... Registered, how about a picture of Yasser as a burger-flipper?

[dennisw]

This deal is gonna suck!

[cardinal4]

Any deal where Arafat is still in power is gonna suck.

[dennisw]

This deal is gonna suck! Not only will it suck, it will bring Israel no good will from the Euros or the Vatican. All the Muslim world will brag at their victory over the Israeli siege as Muslim killers invaded and holed up in a Christian Church.

[dennisw]

These Pallie gunmen are going to get a free vacation in Italy? I don't get it. 

The only upside I can see is that Sharon/Israel has so smashed the Pallie infrastructure of terror that a few (40?) gunmen sliding free doesn't matter to them.

[AmericaUnited]

I actually like when when they go free because then the "special teams" can take care of em.

[larryjohnson]

Italy will set them afloat.

[Bobby777]

perhaps they will be recaptured in Italy ... after Mordecai Vanunu disclosed the Dimona facility to the London Sunday Times, the Mossad sent an agent to London to "fall in love" with him. Since there was no extradition treaty with Great Britian, the Mossad agent convinced Vanunu to go on a "romantic getaway" to Rome (IIRC) ... there he was captured and returned to Israel for an 18-year sentence ...

[houston1]

according to CNN, no deal has been reached yet, they are still working out the final details, stuck on how many go to Italy.