Israeli occupation troops cordoned off the square around Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity, preventing worshippers from attending services Sunday. Bethlehem's residents have been under curfew since Friday, when Israeli occupation troops entered the town following a resistance bombing in Jerusalem that killed 11 people on Thursday. The Palestinian bomber came from Bethlehem.

As the church bells pealed Sunday, the occupation soldiers allowed about 15 monks to enter the compound of the church, built on the site where Jesus was believed to have been born.

The occupation army has been conducting house-to-house searches for militants, and more than 30 Palestinians, three believed to be connected to resistance bombing operations, have been arrested, occupation army officials said.

In other military actions, occupation army arrested Lt. Col. Khaled Maraka an officer in Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's Force 17 unit, and three others, in Beit Omar, near the West Bank town of Hebron, the occupation army said.

And in the West Bank village of Tubas, Israeli occupation soldiers surrounded and searched four mosques while looking for a suspected militant, Palestinian sources said.

Occupation troops called over loudspeakers for the surrender of Mohammed Alkilani, a muezzin, who calls Muslims to prayer, said Jamal Attiya, the prayer leader at one of the mosques. At one stage, occupation troops made Alkilani's father call for his son to surrender, Attiya said.

When Alkilani failed to emerge, occupation troops blew down two large mosque doors and entered. They searched the mosque and threw tear gas canisters into a water well inside the mosque, but did not find Alkilani, Attiya said.

Occupation army officials confirmed that occupation troops were operating in the town, but refused to elaborate.

Inside Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity, a small group of monks and nuns gathered to sing hymns and pray, while the Israeli occupation troops patrolled outside.

In March, Israeli occupation soldiers besieged the church for 39 days after Palestinian militants took refuge inside. During the latest incursion, occupation troops were quick to seal off the church compound and the adjoining Manger Square to prevent a similar occurrence.

"We are praying for peace in Bethlehem, and call on God to decrease the suffering of the people, said Rev. Ibrahim Faltas, who is in charge of the church. "The church is sad without worshippers."

Also Sunday, Israeli officials said that during a raid on Palestinian security headquarters in Gaza last week, occupation troops uncovered documents outlining plans to set up a factory that would produce nitric acid, a key ingredient in explosives.

Raanan Gissin, an adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon , accused Rashid Abu Shabak, head of the Palestinian Preventive Security force of organizing the effort to make high-quality explosives.

The documents captured by Israel were not made available to the media. Abu Shabak denied the Israeli claims. "These are false, baseless allegations," he said.

PHOTO CAPTION

After St. Catherine's Day Sunday Mass inside the Church of the Nativity, the said birthplace of Jesus, Franciscan priests and Catholic nuns pass by Israeli occupation army soldiers who have closed off Manger Square during three days of occupation army operations and curfew, in the West Bank town of Bethlehem, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2002. Priests and nuns were allowed in to worship, while the local Palestinian Christians were kept at home due to curfew. Israel says it has closed part of Manger Square to prevent a standoff similar to that of last Spring, when Palestinian gunmen holed up inside the church for 39 days. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsle