Deal reportedly reached to end church standoff

An Israeli soldier stands guard near the Church of the Nativity on Monday.

BETHLEHEM, West Bank (CNN) -- A resolution to the 35-day standoff between 123 Palestinians holed up inside the Church of the Nativity and the Israeli military has been reached, a Palestinian inside the church told CNN.

Lt. Col. Olivier Rasowicz, a spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces, would only say that there had been "lots of developments."

Under the accord, Palestinian leaders have agreed to send 13 militants inside the church to exile in Italy, and another 26 to Gaza, where they could face trial, said Aziz Halil Mohammed Abayed, a Palestinian pharmacist who has been inside the church and said he would be one of those exiled to Italy.

He said he learned of the agreement from two Palestinian officials who entered the church to present the gunmen inside with a list of the 13 who will go to Italy.

"We don't agree with this agreement, but we [are] forced to be silent," he said, adding that many people inside the church need medical attention.

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"We are forced to be silent to give the others free[dom] to come here to the church and to free our people here inside Bethlehem."

He added that if he and the others inside the church were to remain there, "many persons and many of our family and many of our friends here will be dead."

The breakthrough came as Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was visiting Washington for talks with President Bush. Sharon is carrying a dossier the Israeli government says links Arafat to terrorism and a peace plan calling for buffer zones between Israel and the Palestinians.

The siege at the church, built over what Christians believe is the birthplace of Jesus, began April 2 when Palestinian gunmen entered the church after Israeli troops and tanks rolled into Bethlehem.

Israeli defense officials have promised to withdraw their troops from the city and nearby Beit Jala as soon as the standoff ends.

Palestinian officials had said Sunday a deal had been struck, but an Israeli source said Arafat still had to sign off on the details and negotiations resumed into Monday.

Bethlehem was the last major Palestinian city occupied by Israeli forces during "Operation Defensive Shield." Israeli forces rolled into Ramallah the evening of March 28 in what Sharon said was a campaign to "root out the terrorist infrastructure" on the West Bank.

Last week, Israeli troops pulled back from Arafat's compound in Ramallah when six Palestinians wanted by Israel were transported to a jail in Jericho under international supervision. That left Bethlehem the last standoff to be resolved.

While Israeli troops have pulled back from cities previously under Palestinian Authority security and administrative control, they have formed cordons around those cities and have re-entered several cities to block what the Israeli army said were terror attacks in the planning.

King Abdullah of Jordan is also in Washington, where he plans to meet with Bush this week to discuss the Middle East peace process.

The White House meetings are expected to serve as building blocks for a coming international peace conference on the region.