23 Nisan 5762 11:07Friday April 5, 2002
By Margot Dudkevitch
JERUSALEM (April 5) - Intense negotiations between IDF and Palestinian Authority officials continue in an attempt to break the standoff at Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity, where an estimated 250 Palestinian gunmen remain under siege together with 50 or 60 clergymen.
IDF Col. Marcel Aviv, in charge of negotiations with PA officials regarding the gunmen inside the Church of the Nativity, said there are terrorists affilliated with Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and Tanzim inside. He stressed that no ultimatum had been issued to those inside the church, and the army's intention is to ensure that everyone inside the church is evacuated safely. Aviv noted that the Palestinians had rejected the army's offer to allow in food, medicine, and a doctor examine the wounded inside the church. The explosions heard earlier in the day occurred in a home next to the church, where an armed Palestinian was hiding.
The IDF Spokesman said that Israel had offered the Palestinians a number of chance to leave the church peacefully, but that PA leaders, including the local governor, have so far rejected a peaceful resolution to the issue. The IDF denied reports soldiers entered the church and exchanges of gunfire took place inside.
Palestinians continue to claim the army was on the verge of breaking into the church, and had earlier detonated explosives near one of the back doors in an attempt to break in. The IDF Spokesman said that at no point have soldiers entered the church. Since the army's entry into the city several days ago, IDF and government officials have stressed that the soldiers are under strict orders not to shoot at any holy sites in the city.
Palestinian gunmen holed up inside the Church of Nativity and other holy sites in the city continue to shoot at soldiers and throw bombs at them. Media reports claimed that PA Chairman Yasser Arafat himself had given orders to the gunmen in the church not to surrender to the IDF. Palestinian sources claimed there were no armed gunmen or terrorists inside the church, but Palestinians seeking refuge from the Israeli onslaught.
Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Shaul Mofaz said the army was determined to get their hands on the gunmen holed up inside the Church of the Nativity.
"The fugitives, and some of the terrorists and those who sent them are hiding in churches, mosques, and hospitals. We need to find the right way to get our hands on them," Mofaz told military reporters at his Tel Aviv Defense Ministry headquarters.
IDF commanders stressed that soldiers and officers are aware of the significance and sensitivity of holy sites in the city, and that regulations regarding opening fire were being strictly observed. Film footage released by the army yesterday showed armed Palestinian gunmen carrying assault rifles and wearing flak jackets racing from the nearby Palace Hotel to take refuge in the church compound. Father Ibrahim Faltas told AP that there were ten wounded gunmen inside the church. Italian reporter Marc Innaro of RAI Television, who was evacuated from the church with other foreign reporters on Wednesday night, said the gunmen were not willing to surrender and are extremely determined.
Elsewhere in the city, armed Palestinian gunmen surrendered to soldiers, leaving a building with their weapons over their heads. Palestinians reported that soldiers took over the Palestinian Red Crescent office in the city, and claimed that Israel is preventing ambulance and medical teams from treating the wounded.
The Vatican sharply criticised Israel. A statement issued by Pope John Paul II said it rejects the unjust conditions and humiliation imposed on the Palestinians, as well as the reprisals and revenge attacks, which will do nothing but feed the sense of frustration and hatred.
Meanwhile, the IDF in coordination with Civil Administration officials offered humanitarian and medical assistance in Ramallah and Kalkilya, and assisted in transporting a wounded Palestinian from the village Jamain near Tulkarm, to a hospital in Kalkilya. Yesterday afternoon food and hygenic goods were delivered to Yasser Arafat's headquarters in Ramallah. Pitot, sugar, fruit, vegetables, cleaning materials, and bandages were among the goods taken to him.
The Civil Administration also coordinated the repair of water pipes leading to Arafat's office and the compound, leading to the restoration of the water supply in the area. Palestinians continued to report that the water supply in the city had been cut off by Israel. In Kalkilya, the curfew was lifted for five hours in the morning, to allow local residents to stock up on food and other items, and the army allowed two truckloads of food to be taken into the city.
(Arieh O'Sullivan contributed to this report.)
C'mon people.
These pro-Muslim Reuters goons are trying to squeeze out some venomous anti-Israeli sentiment from mush-headed American readers by turning these little Intifada episodes into homespun versions of Disney flics.
And the sentimentalists are sopping them up like sugar-ants on puddles of honey.
