End to Bethlehem standoff appears imminent

The governor of Bethlehem, Muhammad Madani, second from left, leaves the Church of the Nativity early Thursday for the first time since the standoff began.

BETHLEHEM, West Bank (CNN) -- An end to the five-week standoff at Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity appeared imminent early Thursday with an agreement that would free more than 100 Palestinians but leave 13 wanted militants inside.

Of the 124 Palestinians in the church, 111 will be leaving, said Father Ibrahim Faltas, a clergyman inside the compound. Of those, 26 will be transferred to Gaza, where they could face trial in a Palestinian court, and 85 will go free.

The remainder -- whom Israeli officials call "senior terrorists" -- are staying in Bethlehem, surrounded by Israeli troops, after Italian officials balked at a plan to send them into exile there.

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

Despite the announcement of an agreement, the Palestinians remained in the church before dawn Thursday. But Canon Andrew White, a representative of the Archbishop of Canterbury, told CNN, "They will be out soon."

"I don't think there's any snag," White said. "It's literally just working out the highly complex logistics. There are a lot of things that have been put together on very short notice."

Most of the Israeli troops will withdraw from Bethlehem: A small contingent will continue to encircle the historic church, which Christians regard as the site of the birthplace of Jesus.

The Palestinians took refuge in the church as the Israeli military rolled into Bethlehem in early April, during a military offensive in the West Bank that followed a series of suicide bombings.

A settlement of the standoff was delayed when no country agreed to take the 13 remaining Palestinians as exiles, an Israeli army spokesman said Tuesday.

An earlier proposal would have sent them to Italy, but Italian officials said they were not consulted on that plan. Deputy Foreign Minister Gianfranco Fini said he opposed bringing the 13 wanted Palestinians to Italy.

"If we hosted the 13 Palestinians, we would expose our country to a whole series of grave risks," Fini said.

He told the Italian newspaper La Stampa that Europe should decide "all together" where the 13 should go.