On 3 April, the IDF deployed tanks near
Manger Square, opposite the church, and Israeli Army snipers took up positions on the surrounding buildings. They were instructed to fire at anyone spotted inside the church, searching out targets with laser beams. The Israeli government said it regarded the militants' use of holy sites as cynical and claimed that the militants had shot at the Israeli troops from the church. IDF spokesman, Brigadier General
Ron Kitri, said: "It is complicated because it is a sacred place and we do not want to use live ammunition. There are several channels of negotiation to try to achieve as close to a peaceful solution as possible".
Michel Sabbah, the
Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem and the head of the
Catholic Church in the region, said the gunmen had been given sanctuary, and that "the basilica is a place of refuge for everybody, even fighters, as long as they lay down their arms. We have an obligation to give refuge to Palestinians and Israelis alike". The IDF placed its headquarters in a Palestinian convention center named the "Peace Center". Throughout the siege, Israeli Army snipers killed seven fighters inside the church from their rooftop position. According to a witness, they used green laser beams to find targets during the night. On 5 April 4 Franciscan monks left the church under Israeli escort. Israeli sources said they were told the clergy had been taken hostage, while sources in the Franciscan order maintained they were "voluntary hostages" intent on remaining in order to express solidarity with the Palestinians and to prevent bloodshed.
Pope John Paul II urged people to pray for peace in the Middle East and described the violence as having reached "unimaginable and intolerable" levels.
Israeli Prime Minister,
Ariel Sharon, said the Israeli soldiers would not "defile the holiness of the site as the [Palestinians] have". He also said that the troops would remain in place until the militants inside were captured.
British Foreign Office Minister,
Ben Bradshaw described Israeli actions in the area as "totally unacceptable". On 8 April, a major gunbattle broke out, damaging the facade of the church and causing a fire. Both sides claimed the shooting had begun from the other side. The IDF claimed that the Palestinians had opened fire from a bell tower, wounding two
Israel Border Police gendarmes in a nearby rooftop look-out. An IDF officer said the Israeli troops returned fire, and threw a smoke grenade, which started a blaze in a second-floor meeting hall overlooking the Basilica of St Catherine, adjacent to the Church of the Nativity. One Palestinian militant was killed. On 10 April, an Armenian monk was also wounded, having been shot, according to an Israeli spokesman, because he wore civilian clothes and seemed to be armed. Two
Japanese tourists wandered into the church perimeters by mistake, and were rescued by journalists. One sixteen-year-old Palestinian, Jihad Abu-Qamil, ran away from the church and gave himself up to the IDF. On 17 April, Israeli soldiers shot and wounded a Palestinian after he had left the church, and a priest who had fallen ill was evacuated. On 23 April, negotiations to end the siege began in the Peace Center. The negotiations were mediated by the
Archbishop of Canterbury's representative in Bethlehem,
Canon Andrew White. The Israeli negotiator was IDF Colonel Lior Lotan, a lawyer by profession. At first,
Yasser Arafat appointed
Salah Tamari to head the negotiation team. Tamari rejected Israel's demands to hand over a list of the besieged militants, but then found out that Arafat had given Daoud a contradicting order. Arafat also appointed another negotiation team, headed by Mohammad Rashid. After two days of negotiations, the Palestinians were willing to discuss a possible deportation of the militants in the church to what a senior official called a "friendly foreign country". Then an exchange of fire took place. Two Palestinians were wounded, and four surrendered to the IDF. On 30 April, Israeli officials said that at least thirty people would soon exit the church. Israel said it wanted to try them within Israel, or alternatively exile them. The Palestinians demanded that those men be moved to the
Gaza Strip and others passed under
Palestinian Authority control for trial. On 1 May, twenty-six people came out of the church. IDF spokesman Olivier Rafowicz said one of them was a senior Palestinian security official. He was taken away for questioning. On 2 May, ten international activists, including members of the
International Solidarity Movement, were successful in their attempts to bypass soldiers and enter the church, where they announced they intended to remain until the IDF lifted the siege. The next day, another group of international activists delivered food and water, which were in short supply among those inside. On 5 May, British and American diplomats arrived. It was suggested that about ten of the militants would be exiled to
Jordan. Meanwhile, the IDF said it had found a large amount of explosives in an apartment about 200 meters from the church. Between six and eight of the militants were to be exiled to
Italy, while as many as forty others were to be sent to
Gaza. The remaining were to be freed. The agreement fell through on 8 May, after
Italy refused to accept thirteen militants. The
Italian government said it had received no formal request to take them. On 9 May it was agreed that twenty-six men militants were to go to the Gaza Strip, eighty-five civilians were to be checked by the IDF and then released and the thirteen most wanted, including Daoud, would remain in the church, monitored by a
European Union official, until they could be transferred to
British Army custody and moved to
Italy and
Spain, after those countries agreed in principle to accept them. Al-Madani was the first to walk out of the church. ==Aftermath==