BETHLEHEM, West Bank, 24 April — Palestinian and Israeli negotiators failed to reach a breakthrough yesterday on ending the three-week standoff at the Church of the Nativity after Israel rejected a Palestinian offer to try activists holed up inside.
Israeli and Palestinian officials met twice yesterday near the Bethlehem church where hundreds of Palestinians, including around 30 activists wanted by Israel, have been under siege since April 2.
But they failed to make tangible progress after Israel rejected a Palestinian proposal to send suspected activists for trial in the Gaza Strip.
The two sides agreed to meet again today at 4:00 p.m.
They also requested that the Israelis supply food and water to the church, a request Israel quickly rejected, chief Palestinian negotiator Salah Al-Taamari said.
“The Israelis insist on exiling (the Palestinian activists) and we refuse to accept this demand,” Taamara said after a second meeting, which lasted nearly three hours.
“We still have to bridge the gap,” he said, before adding on a more optimistic note: “We have not reached a deadend yet.”
He said that the Israeli side has so far failed to present a list of activists who are holed up in the church and whom it would like to put on trial.
He said the activists agreed to release four civilians from the church for medical treatment.
Palestinians proposed the Gaza Strip option after rejecting an initial Israeli offer either to send the gunmen into permanent exile or put them on trial in Israel.
Shortly before the first meeting, two Armenian clerics and a priest made a daring escape from the church, where food and water are said to have run out, according to the Armenian patriarchate.
Army spokesman Lt. Col. Olivier Rafowicz told AFP the three men reported the situation inside the church as “terrible,” adding that many civilians wanted to escape but were being held hostage by the Palestinian activists.
