Siege of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem The Siege of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem lasted from April 2 to May 10 , 2002 in Bethlehem in the West Bank . As part of Operation Defensive Shield , the Israel Defense Forces ( IDF ) occupied Bethlehem and tried to capture wanted Palestinian militant s . Dozens of them fled into the Church of the Nativity and sought refuge . Further more , there were some 200 monks and other Palestinians who arrived at the site for different reasons , and were held as hostages by the gunmen . After 39 days , an agreement was reached , according to which the militants turned themselves in to Israel and were exiled to Europe and the Gaza Strip . Prelude . The IDF expected the operation in Bethlehem to be relatively simple , after the Paratroopers Brigade had raided the city several times in the previous months . The mission was given to a reserve infantry brigade , the Jerusalemite Brigade , under the command of Colonel Rami Tzur - Hacham . During previous IDF entries into the city , wanted persons found shelter in the Church of the Nativity . This time , a force from the Shaldag Unit was sent to block the entrance to the site . The troops were airlifted into the city and met disorganized Palestinian resistance . Israeli Air Force helicopters landed the force half an hour too late . When the force arrived , the wanted persons were already there . Dozens of militants , Fatah , Hamas , Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Palestinian Security Forces men fled into the church to fortify , along with some 200 monks and other Palestinians who arrived at the site for different reasons , and were held as hostages by the gunmen . Among them were the governor of Bethlehem , Muhammad al - Madani , and Abdullah Daoud , the Palestinian Authority intelligence chief in Bethlehem . As confirmed by a senior Tanzim commander , Abdullah Abu - Hadid : " The idea was to enter the church in order to create international pressure on Israel . . . We knew beforehand that there was two years ' worth of food for 50 monks . Oil , beans , rice , olives . Good bathrooms and the largest wells in old Bethlehem . You didn ' t need electricity because there were candles . In the yard they planted vegetables . Everything was there . " . Siege . On April 3 , 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 Roman 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 " . The militants were divided into six groups , based on affiliation . They kept contact with the outside world using cellphones . They slept on the church floor and in the monks ' rooms . The restrooms broke several times due to the disrupted water supply . 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 . An Armenian monk was also injured . A major gunbattle broke out , causing a fire . The IDF said 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 April 7 , Vatican City warned Israel to respect religious sites in line with its international obligations . Spokesman Joaquin Navarro - Valls said that the Vatican was following events " with extreme apprehension " . A spokesman for Catholic monks in the Holy Land accused the Israelis of " indescribable act of barbarity " . 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 " . April 16 saw the fiercest exchange of fire near the building since the beginning of the siege . One Palestinian was wounded in the stomach and another suffered from epilepsy . They were evacuated to a hospital . Two Japan ese 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 April 20 , the Greek Orthodox Church of Jerusalem called upon Christians worldwide to make the upcoming Sunday a " solidarity day " for the people in the church and the church itself , and called for immediate intervention to stop what it referred to as the " inhuman measures against the people and the stone of the church " . It also asked Christians , Muslims and Jews to gather at the main entrance to Bethlehem and march to the church . On April 23 , 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 April 30 , Israeli officials said the 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 May 1 , 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 May 2 , 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 May 5 , 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 May 8 , after Italy refused to accept thirteen militants . The Italian government said it had received no formal request to take them . On May 9 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 . On May 10 , the thirteen men left the church , and were greeted by Sherard Cowper - Coles , the British Ambassador to Israel , thirty members of the Royal Military Police , and a Royal Air Force doctor . They laid down their arms to the IDF behind a curtain , to avoid the photographers . They were denied permission to meet with their families before their exile . A total of 8 Palestinians had been killed , and an Armenian monk was also wounded . Israeli riot police reported finding 40 explosive devices which had been left in the church by the Palestinians , several of them booby - trapped . In the parking lot beneath the Peace Center , Israeli soldiers had caused heavy damage to dozens of cars . Soldiers also vandalized Arafat ' s office in the presidential palace in the city . ICOMOS estimated the damage at a total of US $ 1 . 4 million , primarily grades 3 and 4 , and loss in urban furniture . Direct damage to the church complex from projectiles and fire was estimated to total about US $ 77 , 000 .