A group of Dutch and Israeli human rights activists are standing in the street near the East Jerusalem YWCA as we climb into taxis for the 9 km drive to Bethlehem, writes Michael Jansen, in Bethlehem They spent the night next door because the 14-member Hannoun family is due for eviction from their home of half a century to make room for Israeli settlers.
My fellow passengers consist of a Czech television team and international peace activists who plan to carry sacks of food to 250 Palestinians besieged in the Church of the Nativity.
At the traffic lights at the entrance to Bethlehem, an Israeli armoured personnel carrier takes a brief pause from its constant patrol of the dusty streets. I wait till he departs before walking up the hill to the the splendid stone house of the mayor, Mr Hanna Nasser. The last time we met was on Christ- mas Eve, in his office on Manger Square.
Manger Square is a no-go area. All the people of Bethlehem and the adjacent towns and refugee camps are confined to their homes by curfew except for a three-hour break twice a week. In between telephone calls, Mr Nasser says: "Now there is a very serious shortage of food in the church. Some people need medicine."
He denies the people involved in the stand-off with the Israeli army are, as the Israelis claim, "hostages". He states: "They are civilians and policemen and some armed men. I don't know how many. They sought refuge out of fear. I myself took refuge in the church in 1967" when Israel occupied the West Bank.
The meeting to discuss the crisis has been cancelled because Israel refuses to permit EU representatives to attend alongside Israeli and US delegates. "We have our committee but we don't even know whether the Israelis have appointed theirs," he remarks. "We will know who they are when me meet ... It's unfair to keep the entire city under such severe conditions because of those in the church." He says he has had no contacts with an envoy from the Archbishop of Canterbury, who has been trying to mediate.