Palestinians on Israel’s most wanted list began emerging Friday morning shortly before 7 A.M. (4 A.M. GMT) from the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, marking the end of the 39-day standoff at the shrine.
The first to emerge were the 13 activists who are to be deported first to Cyprus and then to European countries and possibly Canada, officials said. They were followed by 26 who are to be taken to Gaza and about 85 civilians, who are to be freed.
The first person to leave the church, Abdullah Daoud, the head of Palestinian intelligence in Bethlehem, was stopped several times at an Israeli metal detector and had to take off his jacket before being cleared. Wearing a black and white checked Arab scarf around his neck and accompanied by two priests, he approached two Israeli soldiers, who talked to him briefly before directing him to a red and white Israeli bus.
Seven red and white buses pulled up to the church just after daybreak, preparing to transport groups of Palestinians emerging from the church. The second man coming out was identified as Khaled Abu Nijmeh, also on the list of deportees.
The breakthrough in negotiations between the sides came Thursday when Cypriot Foreign Minister Yiannakis Cassoulides said his country would temporarily take in the 13 Palestinians before they were flown to their final destinations.
A British military aircraft took off from an air base in Cyprus Friday morning for Israel to pick up the men, said British officials in Cyprus, speaking on condition of anonymity to AP. They said two Cypriot police were aboard to escort the Palestinians back.
There was no indication that the Palestinians would face confinement in the host countries. The Italian official, speaking on condition of anonymity from Rome, said the details of the exile would be worked out at a meeting of European Union foreign ministers in Brussels on Monday.
It was expected to take several hours for all the 124 Palestinians in the church to emerge, go through security and identity checks and be sent to their next destinations - exile in Europe, Gaza or home.
Manger Square, in front of the ancient church, was packed with Israeli soldiers and 10 army vehicles. At least six four-wheel-drive vehicles with diplomatic license plates were parked nearby.
Israeli officials said that the people would all be transported to an Israeli military base, where their identities would be verified.
A Palestinian official said the weapons taken into the church by the Palestinian gunmen would be left at the shrine and turned over later to the United States.
The arrangement cleared the way for Israeli forces to withdraw from the last West Bank city they occupy. (Albawaba.com)
