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CNN Live Today

Israelis, Palestinians Search for Resolution in Bethlehem

Aired May 06, 2002 - 14:07   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: We turn our attentions now to the Middle East, where Israelis and Palestinians are grappling for a resolution to one of their seemingly countless conflicts, this one at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, where CNN's Matthew Chance has been basically nonstop for the last 24 hours.

Matthew, what's the latest?

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Catherine. We spoke about 24 hours ago.

In fact, then there was an aura of anticipation that some kind of agreement was going to be reached to bring to an end this siege outside and inside indeed the Church of the Nativity here in Bethlehem.

We're still under the impression that that agreement is not far off. We know that negotiators from both sides, the Israelis and the Palestinians, are still together, still trying to hammer out the final details of that plan.

We're told by both sides as well that a final agreement is not far away. The shape of the agreement, we're aware of. It's going to involve, let me tell you, some kind of transfer of some of the what Israel calls hard-core Palestinian militants who are holed up inside the Church of the Nativity -- transfer them to Gaza under Palestinian control to be tried in Palestinian courts.

A smaller number, and this figure has yet to be negotiated, are likely to be cast into exile.

So what the issue is now is a sort of number crunching disagreement about exactly who is who and who will go where.

Until that is resolved, though, to the satisfaction of both parties, we could be here for sometime. Indeed, the spokesman for the Israeli army here in Bethlehem told us earlier there is an agreement soon. He doesn't know when it's going to come, whether it's going to be later on tonight or whether it's going to be tomorrow -- Catherine.

CALLAWAY: You know, Matthew, as we were talking yesterday about this, I know it's difficult to know exactly what's going on in those negotiations, but has there been an increase on movement there, on people coming in and out? CHANCE: It's not been noticeable. Certainly we know that the Palestinian police here in Bethlehem have been put on standby in case there is a need for them to come in and takeover and to in some way facilitate the quick evacuation of the church.

A lot of the activity, though, in this negotiation has, of course, been taking place behind closed doors. Israeli and Palestinian negotiators meeting each other.

A lot of input as well from the United States. The CIA has been incredibly involved in brokering the final deal, as well as the Vatican and other institutions.

So much of the action, unfortunately, has been taking place behind closed doors -- Catherine.

CALLAWAY: Are you hearing anything there about the condition of those inside? I know we spoke yesterday, and heard that the conditions there were deteriorating rapidly.

CHANCE: Yes, pretty poor conditions inside. We're getting a few stories trickling out about how people are holding up underneath the conditions that have been a result of this siege around the Church of the Nativity.

Of course, there are a great deal of people in this relatively small and confined space. There's a list that's been circulated of 123 Palestinians inside. Of them, of course, a number are civilians. A number are the Palestinian militants that Israel says it wants brought to justice.

There are also about 30 members of the clergy, nuns and priest, inside the church, as well as a number, about a dozen, of peace activist who made a dash basically from this position here over into the church itself on Thursday of last week.

So there's a great deal of people inside. They're living in very close proximity to each other and really there's a lot of concern about what the situation is going to be in the church, once we're allowed to see what it is like in there.

CALLAWAY: All right, CNN's Matthew Chance, following the story for us at the Church of the Nativity. Thank you, Matthew.

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