Bethlehem

   A town in the West Bank, it lies about five miles (eight kilometers) south of Jerusalem and is the traditional birthplace of Jesus Christ. Bethlehem is chiefly a religious shrine with many churches and other religious institutions. It was a walled city during the time of King David, who was born there. Christian crusaders captured it in the first crusade but later lost it to Turkish Muslims. The Ottoman Turks gained control of the area in the 1500s. In 1917, during World War I, British forces led by General Allenby took the town. It was part of the West Bank area annexed by Jordan in 1949, and Israel took control of the city during the Six-Day War (1967). Control of the city was initially transferred to the Palestinians in late 1995 within the context of the Oslo II Interim Agreement but largely retaken by Israel in Operation Defensive Shield in the spring of 2002. On 3 April 2002, the Church of Nativity, the traditional birthplace of Christianity, was taken over by dozens of heavily armed Islamic terrorist fugitives fleeing Israeli forces. For several weeks, a standoff ensued, with Israel assiduously avoiding assaulting the terrorists for fear of damaging the church and thereby provoking crises with the Vatican and the broader Christian world. The standoff was finally resolved on 10 May 2002 through the intervention of the government of Italy and other international actors.

   See also Arab-Israeli Conflict.