BETHLEHEM, West Bank (REUTERS) — A deal was struck Tuesday to end a month-long standoff between the Israeli army and Palestinian militants holed up inside Bethlehem’s Church of the Nativity, Palestinian sources said.
They told Reuters that under an accord approved by Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, 13 Palestinian militants inside the church would be exiled to Italy while 26 others would be sent to the Gaza Strip.
Some details still needed to be finalized, they added.
“Arafat has approved of 13 going to Italy and 26 to Gaza,” a source close to the negotiations said. “They are still seeking Italy’s approval, and there are two other small points that need to be finalized. But overall they have reached a deal.”
An Israeli army spokesman declined to confirm or deny the information.
The Palestinian sources said Palestinian security officials were inside the church trying to finalize details of the deal and gather weapons from the militants.
One leading Palestinian militant told Reuters, by telephone from inside the church, that he and 12 others had agreed to go to Italy while 26 would go to Gaza. He said he believed his group would leave the church first.
It was not immediately clear if the 26 would be detained by the Palestinian Authority in Gaza.
The reported deal followed comments by Secretary of State Colin Powell that Palestinians and Israelis were nearing an accord to lift Israel’s five-week siege of the church, built on the spot Christians revere as the birthplace of Jesus.
A spokesman for the Catholic Church’s Franciscan order said Monday he had been told the talks had stalled amid reports of disputes over how many of the dozens of militants holed up inside would be sent into exile abroad and how many would be transferred to the Gaza Strip.
Bethlehem remained paralyzed by the last big standoff of Israel’s offensive on the West Bank, launched March 29 to crush militants targeting Israelis.
A deal would pave the way for troops to leave Bethlehem, the last major West Bank town from which Israeli troops have not yet withdrawn since winding down their blitz against suicide-bomber networks that killed scores of people inside Israel.
Palestinians rose up against Israel’s occupation of much of the West Bank and Gaza Strip in September 2000 after talks on a final peace settlement stalled.
Sharon meets Powell, Rumsfeld
In Washington, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon called for a major restructuring of the Palestinian Authority in a way that would sideline Arafat.
Sharon said Israel would be able to implement a peace plan — which he did not disclose — only if the Palestinian Authority were revamped and Palestinian “violence, terrorism and incitement” ceased.
He was likely to repeat the theme in talks Tuesday with President Bush, who has said the Palestinians deserved a better leadership but has not echoed Sharon’s position that Arafat cannot be a peace partner.
“A responsible Palestinian Authority that can advance the cause of peace should not be dependent on the will of one man,” Sharon said, referring to Arafat.
Bush, speaking about Arafat, told reporters during a visit to a school in Michigan, “He has disappointed me. He must lead. He must show the world that he believes in peace.”
“In order to achieve peace, all parties — the Arab nations, Israel, Chairman Arafat and the Palestinian Authority — must assume their responsibilities and lead,” said Bush, who has angered Arabs by calling Sharon “a man of peace.”
Sharon has met Powell and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. No details of the meetings were released.
Bush has demanded a full Israeli withdrawal from Palestinian-ruled areas, an Arab condition for a conference on peacemaking steps that world powers want held this summer.
Powell, speaking after separate meetings with Sharon, King Abdullah of Jordan and Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal, tried to strike a balance between Sharon’s preference for interim measures and Arab calls for a complete agreement.
The proposed conference would be “another step on a way forward” rather than a decisive meeting to draft an overall settlement, he said.
Financing attacks
Sharon came to Washington armed with a 100-page report that Israel says shows the Palestinian leader used millions of dollars in U.S. and European Union donations to finance attacks on Israelis.
An Israeli cabinet minister traveling with Sharon presented a separate report, based on documents Israel says were seized during the offensive, alleging that Saudi money paid to the Islamic militant group Hamas and to families of Palestinians killed in the uprising only encouraged terrorism.
The Palestinian Authority says the documents aired by Israel to support such reports are forgeries. Hamas has carried out suicide attacks in Israel while also running a large network of charities in the West Bank and Gaza.
In fresh violence, Israel radio reported three attempted shootings and bombings targeting Jewish settlers in the West Bank Monday evening but said nobody was injured.
Separately, five Palestinian militants were detained in continued Israeli army operations against alleged suicide bombers, one in Beit Sahour east of Bethlehem and four in a village near Nablus, an army spokesman said.
At least 1,344 Palestinians and 459 Israelis have been killed since the Palestinian uprising began in September 2000.