JERUSALEM (Islamweb & News Agencies) - Israel said it would lift an army cordon on the West Bank town of Bethlehem for continuing Christian seasonal festivities, but Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat was still banned from going to Jesus's birthplace.
The measure came toward the end of a day of relative calm and talk of ideas to end 15 months of bloodshed in the Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation.
It came too late for the Dec. 24 Western Rite evening mass -- from which Arafat was also barred -- although it could ease travel to the town for other celebrations, including next month's Greek Orthodox and Armenian celebrations.
Early on Friday, Palestinian sources in Bethlehem said they had seen no change in the Israeli deployment.
Israeli forces have maintained a crippling grip on the West Bank and Gaza since the start of the Palestinian uprising.
Right-wing Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's government says the blockades are needed as a security measure after resistance bombings killed scores of Israelis, but Palestinians call them collective punishment for the uprising.
Israel's ally the United States has joined international criticism of the ban on Arafat going to Bethlehem.
Ahmed Abdel-Rahman, Palestinian Authority general secretary, said the decision to keep the ban could thwart efforts to restore calm.