Israel detain church siege youths
Nine youths allowed to leave the Church of the Nativity after 23 days of siege were in Israeli custody, but an army officer said they would be released this morning.
Palestinian negotiators charged that the youths were under arrest and have suspended talks until they are freed.
Agreement over release of the nine, aged 14 to 20, and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s proposal to allow Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat travel to Gaza signalled that the two remaining sticking points from Israel’s military operation in the West Bank might be close to resolution.
However, there was enough bad blood to delay or even scuttle agreements.
In Bethlehem, Palestinians charged that Israel was violating its pledges by taking the youths for questioning, and Israel charged that a quick trial of the assassins of an Israeli Cabinet minister, which took place inside Arafat’s encircled office, was invalid.
In the Gaza Strip, Palestinians said a woman was shot and killed by Israeli forces early today near the Gaza-Egypt border.
The Israeli military said Palestinians attacked Israeli soldiers with gunfire, grenades and a mortar shell in a battle that lasted for several hours.
In Bethlehem, the nine youths left the Church of the Nativity, marking the traditional birthplace of Jesus, and were escorted away by Israeli soldiers.
The youths, accompanied by two monks who later returned to the compound, brought out the badly decomposing bodies of two Palestinian policemen who were killed early in the confrontation.
The bodies were placed in a Palestinian ambulance.
For Mohammed Habib, 15, the most acute problem inside the church was a shortage of food.
He said that besides food, the things he missed the most during 23 days of siege were a pen and paper and his mother’s cooking.
He said the soldiers questioned him and the others closely about the identity of the Palestinian militants holed up in the church.
Colonel Marcel Aviv, an Israeli military commander in the area, said the youths would be released today.
About 200 Palestinians, including many gunmen, fled into the shrine, one of Christianity’s holiest sites, ahead of invading Israeli forces on April 2.
The Israeli military kept reporters away from the church, and to foil those who had vantage points on Bethlehem rooftops, soldiers set off smoke bombs to block reporters’ view as the youths left the church.
Israel Radio reported that there was some progress in the negotiations, but gave no details.
Aviv said a deal could be made ‘‘in a matter of days,’’ while repeating Israel’s stand.
A Palestinian official said negotiator Salah Taameri would consult with Arafat about the Israeli proposals.
In Ramallah, Israel’s policy of isolating Arafat appeared to be unravelling.
A line of diplomats has visited the embattled Palestinian leader in recent days.
Yesterday, the Turkish and Greek foreign ministers entered the compound.
The two, representing countries that were traditional enemies, are on a joint mission to show that rivals can overcome their differences.
Also, Israel allowed a senior Palestinian official to leave the office building.
Mustafa Issa, the senior local Palestinian official in the city, was the first Palestinian to leave the compound since Israeli tanks and troops surrounded it shortly after their incursion into the West Bank March 29, a response to a series of deadly Palestinian suicide bomb attacks in Israel.
As a condition to lifting the siege, Israel is demanding that Arafat turn over the assassins of Israeli Cabinet Minister Rehavam Zeevi, gunned down in Jerusalem on October 17.
