BETHLEHEM (voa) – Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat has visited the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem after leaving Ramallah for the first time since Israeli forces restricted his movements to West Bank town nearly six months ago.
Mr. Arafat boarded a Jordanian helicopter Monday for a tour of the West Bank. He planned to visit Nablus and Jenin after the stop in Bethlehem. The three towns were among the hardest hit areas that Israeli forces occupied during a six-week incursion into the West Bank against Palestinian militants.
Mr. Arafat was welcomed at the Bethlehem church, which was under Israeli siege for more than five weeks. Israeli forces pulled back after an agreement was reached that sent 13 Palestinian militants wanted by Israel into exile abroad.
Other Palestinian gunmen that had been holed up in the church were sent to the Gaza Strip.
In an interview Sunday with U.S. television, Mr. Arafat said he accepts an Israeli Jewish state, and denied Israeli allegations he paid for terrorist activities. He said money given to Palestinians was to help those hit by poverty, similar to welfare payments in the United States. Mr. Arafat said he condemns terrorism, and does not know who is responsible for recent suicide bombings in Israel.
The Israeli army has sent home some reserve soldiers who had been called up for an expected military offensive in the Gaza Strip. Israeli Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer says the operation has been postponed, but that Israel would still respond to any Palestinian attacks. Gaza residents have been bracing for an Israeli assault since last week’s suicide bombing near Tel Aviv that killed 15 Israelis.
