The latest round of negotiations between Israeli soldiers and Palestinians, which was aimed at ending the standoff at the Church of the Nativity in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, was concluded on Thursday without any progress, Palestinian sources said.
Inside the church, there are about 30 Palestinian militants on Israel's wanted list. Israel insists that they surrender and be put in exile, or on trial in Israel.
Earlier Thursday, the Israeli army allowed nine young Palestinians, two clerics and two corpses to leave the church, but nearly 200 other Palestinians are still in the church to wait for an end to the crisis.
It is the largest group of people to leave the church since the standoff started on April 2, following the Israeli army's widespread operations into the West Bank.
So far, the next round of negotiation has not been decided.
(People's Daily April 26, 2002)
