Israeli tanks in place

Associated Press

JERUSALEM — Tanks were poised outside the Gaza Strip and Israel called up military reservists ahead of an expected retaliatory attack for Palestinian suicide bombings, even as the standoff at Bethlehem’s Church of the Nativity came to an end today.

After daybreak, suspected Palestinian militants wanted by Israel began leaving the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, marking the end of a standoff with Israeli troops that lasted more than five weeks.

Under the deal, the first people emerging were 13 gunmen to be deported to Cyprus and then to European countries, officials said. They were to be followed by 26 who are to be taken to Gaza and about 85 civilians, who are to be freed.

An Italian Foreign Ministry official said Italy and Spain would take some of the alleged militants while Austria, Greece, Luxembourg and Ireland might take the rest. The official said the move was a "humanitarian decision" — meaning the 13 would likely not be kept in prison.

Meanwhile, Palestinians arrested 16 members of Hamas, the Islamic militant group that claimed it carried out a deadly suicide attack earlier this week, a first sign that Yasser Arafat was taking action against terror groups.

Tanks were parked off Gaza, the home base of the Hamas militant group, and Israeli forces around the strip were being beefed up Thursday night.

But Hamas leaders in Gaza, a sliver of Mediterranean coastline two-thirds of which is under Palestinian autonomy, said they were going about life as usual.

Mohammed Dahlan, Yasser Arafat’s security chief in Gaza, said the Palestinians were expecting an attack.

"Everyone is prepared and our people know how to confront the occupation," said Dahlan, who has been in the West Bank town of Ramallah for months. "We said this before, and we mean it now — if the occupation forces carry out an aggression, we will face this aggression."

On Thursday, the Israeli Cabinet approved unspecified reprisals in response to Tuesday’s bombing in a pool hall in a Tel Aviv suburb. Fifteen Israelis were killed in the attack, the deadliest since Israel launched its West Bank military offensive March 29 in response to a wave of suicide bombings.

Foreign Minister Shimon Peres hinted Israel might have a more limited operation in mind this time, "striking at centers from which the suicide attackers come, or the houses from which they come, or the nests from which the organization of suicide bombers comes."

Military sources said the objective is to hit at Hamas leaders and end the sense of immunity the militants in Gaza have enjoyed.