VATICAN (voa) – Diplomats at the Vatican have put forward a plan aimed at resolving the standoff between Israeli troops and Palestinian gunmen inside Bethlehem’s Church of the Nativity.
Details of the Vatican proposal are not known, but Reuters news agency quotes a church spokesman – Father David Jaeger – as saying the plan is honorable, peaceful and capable of immediate implementation.
Some 200 Palestinian gunmen and civilians took refuge in the church five days ago, and they have remained holed up there, along with 40 Franciscan monks and four nuns. Israeli troops have surrounded the church, which is considered one of the holiest sites in Christendom.
The Israeli army wants the armed men, some of whom are suspected terrorists, to surrender, and the Franciscans in the church, fearing a bloodbath, have vowed to stay inside.
The Vatican has a diplomatic mission in Jerusalem, which overseas the Church’s work in Israel and the Palestinian territories. Its embassy to the Jewish state is in Jaffa.
