Twenty-six people filed out of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem today, the largest group to leave in a four-week-long Israeli siege of Palestinian fighters taking refuge in the shrine.
Witnesses saw the people walk out of the church, one of Christianity's holiest sites, in single file and present their identity papers to Israeli soldiers.
The Israeli army initially said 27 people were in the group, but witnesses and the military later put the number at 26, including a senior Palestinian security official.
Half of the group were members of the Palestinian security forces and the rest civilians, including youths, an army spokesman said.
Twenty-four of those who left the church boarded an Israeli armoured bus. The senior Palestinian security officer, who was not immediately identified, was taken away separately by the army. Another man was evacuated for medical treatment.
Israeli troops have besieged the church, revered by Christians as the site where Jesus was born, since April 2nd after 30 gunmen burst inside to hide from soldiers who had reoccupied Bethlehem during an anti-militant sweep in the West Bank.
Dozens of Palestinian police, Christian clerics and other civilians are trapped in the shrine, where food and water are said to be in short supply.
Israel says the gunmen are holding them hostage. The Palestinians deny that anyone is being held against their will.