December 24, 2001

Sharon denies Arafat permission to leave Ramallah to attend Christmas celebrations in Bethlehem. Instead, a delegation of prominent Christian leaders goes to Ramallah to visit Arafat. The Vatican denounces Israel's action as "arbitrary." In protest, the AMB ambushes a car outside Nablus, seriously injuring 1 Jewish settler. The IDF fires on residential areas of Hebron, Khan Yunis. (Interfax, ITAR-TASS, JT, MENA 12/24, AFP, AKH, MENA, al-Quds 12/25 in WNC 12/26; BBC, NYT, WP, WT 12/25; PCHR, WT 12/26)