28 Palestinians to leave beseiged Bethlehem church
Twenty eight Palestinians are due to leave the besieged Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem today under a deal negotiated with the Israeli military.
The group will include 27 civilians and one policeman who have been under siege in the church for more than four weeks.
More than 200 people took refuge in the church compound in central Bethlehem when Israeli soldiers invaded the town as part of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s “anti-terror” offensive in the West Bank.
Those inside include Palestinian gunmen, police officer, civilians, clerics, monks and nuns.
Israel said they are all free to go except around 20 to 30 gunmen, who it wants to arrest and put on trial or send into permanent exile.
The gunmen have refused to surrender.
