Herald news services
BETHLEHEM, Israel – Israeli troops negotiated with about 200 Palestinian fighters holed up in the Church of the Nativity on Wednesday, the fourth-century shrine considered the birthplace of Jesus, trying to resolve a day-old standoff as deadly gunfights continued in the back alleys of this shattered holy city.
Palestinian and Israeli officials said five more Palestinians were killed Wednesday – although the death toll was preliminary because some bodies haven’t been recovered – bringing the total to an estimated 14 here since the Israeli military swept into town Tuesday.
There was no shooting at the Church of the Nativity, however. And late Wednesday, an Israeli military commander approached the front doors of the church and began telephone negotiations with a priest inside acting as a mediator, according to a spokeswoman for the Israel Defense Forces.
As the Bethlehem standoff continued Wednesday, Israel widened its reoccupation of the West Bank, seizing control of Nablus, the largest city in the West Bank.
In Bethlehem, seven Greek Orthodox clergymen have remained voluntarily in the besieged church on Manger Square, until recently a thriving tourist attraction. The clerics were providing medical care to nine wounded Palestinians, one severely injured, and sharing meager supplies of coffee, tea and biscuits with the fighters, a priest said in a telephone interview.
To the extent that anyone sleeps, the fighters, mostly members of the Palestinian Authority security forces, bunk in the basilica and the priests in their adjoining living quarters, he said.
“They are agitated and nervous, but they respect us very much,” said the 33-year-old Canadian priest who identified himself as Father Parthenius, the chant of prayers resounding in the background. “The Christians among them are joining us in prayer. There is a lot of shooting outside. We heard two tank shells fired today.”
But the priest said Israeli soldiers refrained from firing at the church, and the Palestinians inside weren’t shooting either. Another standoff at a house of worship ended earlier Wednesday when about 80 Palestinian fighters fled out the back door of the Santa Maria church, leaving behind the corpse of a uniformed Palestinian policeman with a bullet wound in the head, officials said.
The Palestinian governor of Bethlehem said the gunmen managed to sneak out and escape into the historic center, a labyrinth of winding streets and narrow alleys. In contrast, the Israeli military spokeswoman said the Israeli troops didn’t engage the fleeing Palestinians to ensure the safety of a priest and nuns who had been inside with them since Tuesday.
“We don’t want any trouble around a church,” the spokeswoman said.
Information was imprecise, but Palestinians were reported to have been holed up in two other churches as well. They abandoned one, the Lutheran Church, sometime Wednesday afternoon, according to Bethlehem Gov. Mohamad Madani.
The Israelis say the Palestinians are cynically exploiting the churches by taking refuge in them.
Parthenius said the priests in the Church of the Nativity don’t regard themselves as hostages. Rather, they fulfilled a sacred tradition of providing sanctuary, he said.
The standoff at one of Christianity’s most hallowed sites dominated world attention, spurring public comments and diplomatic contacts involving the Vatican, Israel and other governments.
Clerics here were still coming to grips with the unthinkable: Men of war taking over places of peace. Nonetheless, several priests said they were less concerned about the fate of the church buildings than the long-suffering people of Bethlehem.
The European Union, meanwhile, said it would send a high-level mission to the Middle East to urge the sides to open negotiations. The move came hours after top EU official Romano Prodi criticized U.S. peace efforts, asking Washington to stand down and make room for other nations to try.
U.S. special envoy Anthony Zinni remains in the region striving to implement a truce plan authored last June by CIA chief George Tenet. The U.S. Embassy hasn’t released any information on his activities in recent days, and no meetings were scheduled today with either Israelis or Palestinians.
In Ramallah, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat remained a prisoner of Israel, confined to a few rooms in his former headquarters. Raanan Gissin, an adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, said Arafat “won’t communicate (with the outside world) until … we see he is no longer a threat and not instigating terrorism.”
Arafat, who is accompanied by about 300 people, including aides, security guards and several dozen foreign volunteers, still has use of a mobile phone. Israel insists it is trying to keep him relatively comfortable.
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