A group of foreign peace activists refused to leave Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity today after other civilians and Palestinian militants emerged after a five-week standoff, the Israeli army said. Israeli Army officials had earlier said the ten activists who had slipped into the church during the siege by Israeli forces would be taken into custody and deported following the resolution of the stand-off under a European-brokered deal.
An army spokesman said everyone except for the activists had filed out of the church, which is built on the spot revered by Christians as the birthplace of Jesus.
"The priests are asking them to leave and they won't," he said. "We are not clear exactly what they want but at the moment they are refusing to leave". Robed priests huddled with army negotiators outside the church trying to resolve the issue.
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Israeli soldiers at Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity.
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Under a deal reached overnight, 13 militants left the church headed for an Israeli airport, from which they were to be flown in a British military aircraft to Cyprus, the first stop in exile. Twenty-six other militants are going to the Gaza Strip.