Palestinians took control of Bethlehem as Israeli troops withdrew from the city, marking a significant milestone in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
This transfer occurred under the Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, signed in September 1995.
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City of Bethlehem passes from Israeli to Palestinian control Historically, Bethlehem had been under various administrations: a British mandate from 1920 to 1948, captured by Jordan in the Arab-Israeli War, and then controlled by Israel since the Six-Day War in 1967.
As church bells pealed across Bethlehem, Palestinian police arrived at Israel's military headquarters Thursday to take control of the city where tradition and the Bible say Jesus was born.
Israeli soldiers dressed in flak jackets stood nearby with their automatic rifles at the ready, preparing for the handover of power four days before Christmas. The handover ends 28 years of Israeli occupation.
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat was to visit Bethlehem for the first time on Sunday, Christmas Eve, and deliver a speech from the roof of the Church of the Nativity, which marks the traditional site of Jesus' birth.
Those plans drew protest from some evangelical Christians who charge the PLO leader was exploiting Christmas for political gains before the Jan. 20 Palestinian general elections.
Meanwhile, thousands of Palestinians pushed up against a 30-foot-high chain-link fence surrounding an Israeli police station in Manger Square.
Israeli border police moved seven jeeps to form a protective circle around the fence. They were backed up by Palestinian security forces who formed a human chain around the station.
Outside the Church of the Nativity, Palestinians danced and sang in joy. "The Zionists are leaving us. We are Palestinians, and this town is Arab," chanted Mohammed Assad, 73, as he danced and waved a walking stick.
As a prelude to the change, Manger Square was bedecked with hundreds of Palestinian flags, pictures of Arafat and chains of lights.
With Israel's departure, Bethlehem becomes the sixth West Bank town to come under Palestinian rule as part of the Israel-PLO autonomy agreement.