Israeli President Moshe Katsav told Pope John Paul II that Israel would not permit some 200 armed Palestinians to escape from the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. “Under the circumstances, I regret that with all the respect and consideration we have for the Christian Holy Places, we have no alternative but to prevent armed Palestinian terrorists, who have murdered innocent Jews, from escaping and continuing their acts of bloodshed,” Katsav told the pope in a letter.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.