Palestinians seek world help in Bethlehem standoff

Arafat holds hands with Cardinal Roger Etchegaray and an unidentified sheik in Ramallah Thursday.

BETHLEHEM, West Bank (CNN) -- As Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat spent his first day traveling freely in the West Bank since the siege of his compound ended, Palestinian negotiators appealed Thursday for international intervention to end the standoff at the Church of the Nativity, saying people inside the holy site were starving.

The people who have been inside the church during the month-long standoff need aid, the Palestinian negotiating team said, and called on the United States and "Christians worldwide" to help.

"The situation is desperate," the negotiating team said in a statement. "Those in the church are starving. Their faith in the success of our efforts is in jeopardy."

Israeli officials say they are shipping between 50 and 100 meals daily into the church, where an estimated 200 Palestinians are holed up along with nuns and priests. The Palestinians are taking the food intended for the clergy, Israelis say.

Bethlehem Mayor Hanna Nasser, a member of the negotiating team, proposed that the plan used to end a standoff at Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's compound also could be used to end the confrontation at the church. (Full story)

In the West Bank town of Ramallah, Arafat emerged from his compound Thursday for the first time in more than a month facing the dual challenges of rebuilding his shattered Palestinian Authority and President Bush's demand that he denounce terror and take action to curb it.

A veteran survivor of countless confrontations with the Israelis, the 72-year-old Arafat flashed a "V" for victory sign as he walked down the steps of his heavily damaged compound. (Full story)

Israeli tanks and troops surrounded the Arafat compound in late March when Israel launched a military operation aimed at destroying what it called a "terrorist infrastucture" in the West Bank.

Peace plans and fact-finding

IN-DEPTH  CNN NewsPass Video    •  Palestinian politics  MORE STORIES   •  IDF: Arms workshops destroyed in Rafah  EXTRA INFORMATION   •  Gallery: Palestinian fatalities  RESOURCES   •  Victims of terror   •  TIME.com: Orchestrating a common ground

In Washington, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said Thursday that preparations have begun by the so-called Madrid Quartet for an international conference on the Middle East this summer. He also said the proposed strategy consisted of security for Israel and Palestinians, economic and humanitarian aid, and the political way forward to a settlement.

The group, formed last month in Madrid, Spain, includes representatives from the European Union, the United Nations, Russia and the United States. (Full story)

In New York, the U.N. Security Council plans Friday to resume discussion of a response to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan's decision to disband the team he had assembled to find out what happened during the Israeli military action in Jenin.

Israel has refused to cooperate with the probe. U.N. Security Council members have been unable to agree on an Arab-backed resolution that would demand Israel's acceptance of the Jenin team.

Members circulated a letter that would formally accept "with deep regret" Annan's decision to close down the Jenin team. But it asks Annan to use available information to produce an accurate, balanced and "as far as possible an accurate, thorough, balanced and credible report."

Palestinians accused Israel of committing a massacre at the Jenin refugee camp, killing hundreds. Israel denies that, saying the camp was a "fountainhead of suicide bombers" and the scene of some of the most intense fighting during its military campaign.

The Palestine Red Crescent Society said 53 bodies of Palestinians have been recovered from the camp and buried. About half of those were thought to be noncombatants. Israel has said 23 of its soldiers were killed at the camp.

The Palestinian claims have not been independently corroborated.

In Washington, both the Senate and the House Thursday approved carefully crafted resolutions with pro-Israel sentiments.

"The Senate stands in solidarity with Israel, a front-line state in the war against terrorism, as it takes necessary steps to provide security to its people by dismantling the terrorist infrastructure in the Palestinian areas," said the Senate resolution.

In Jerusalem, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said he would present to President Bush a new peace plan -- one that includes a physical buffer between Israelis and Palestinians -- during his visit to Washington next week.

"I believe that I'll be presenting a plan, a serious plan, maybe the most serious that has been presented by now -- how to reach peace in the Middle East, how to reach peace between us and the Palestinians," Sharon said on ABC's "Nightline." "I believe that that should be, that might be achieved in phases." (More on Sharon peace proposals)

Gunfire in Manger Square

An Israeli soldier runs to a new position in a narrow alleyway leading to Manger Square in Bethlehem Thursday.

At Manger Square Thursday, one man was killed and three others were wounded when Israeli forces and Palestinians inside the church exchanged gunfire, according to Palestinians. Israel Radio reported that soldiers fired at five armed men in the courtyard of the church, hitting four of them, after the Palestinians opened fire on a nearby Israel Defense Forces post.

Palestinians sought refuge in the church about a month ago when Israeli tanks rolled into the city as part of Israel's military operation after a wave of Palestinian attacks against Israeli civilians. Israeli officials believe as many as 200 Palestinians remain inside and that as many as 40 of them are terrorists wanted by Israel.

Israeli officials also charged Thursday that the Palestinians started Wednesday's fires in the monasteries deliberately. As proof, they displayed photographs showing that glass in the buildings had shattered outward, rather than inward as they would if hit by outside fire, officials said. The Palestinians denied the charge, saying the blazes were started by Israeli weapons fire.

Israeli Lt. Col. Olivier Rafowicz also said the Palestinians have planted bombs and booby traps around the church, built on the site that Christian tradition holds is the birthplace of Jesus Christ.

A group of activists said Thursday they had managed to get at least 10 people past Israeli troops and into the Church of the Nativity. Two photographers were also able to get inside, they said. A spokesman for International Solidarity said the activists were carrying food and are prepared to stay as long as the standoff continued.

-- CNN's Rula Amin, Richard Roth, and Matthew Chance contributed to this report