Checkpoint on one of the roads into Bethlehem

Israel Lifts Bethlehem Blockade

The general closure, which bars Palestinian workers from Bethlehem and other Palestinian towns from entering Israel, remains in force.

Bethlehem is the last West Bank city to be freed of an internal closure, after four weeks.

Scuffles broke out as frustration mounted

Residents were unable to even visit neighbouring Arab villages; other Palestinians could not enter the area and most tourists, including Christian pilgrims, could not visit the site regarded as the birthplace of Jesus.

Only a small number of Palestinians and foreigners managed to slip through the exceptionally tight cordon.

In recent weeks, the internal closure imposed on other Palestinian cities had been lifted, but Bethlehem remained under siege. Israeli security forces, working with Palestinian forces, wanted to ensure that a bomb factory discovered in the area had no links to the suicide bombing in Jerusalem.

Israel also believed that the two most wanted Palestinians, including the man regarded as the master bomb-maker, could be hiding in the vicinity.

But in recent days, the area had become increasingly tense. Israeli soldiers clashed with angry youths for several days running and there were increasingly angry demonstrations by local residents and their supporters.

A BBC correspondent says lifting the internal closure will help to ease this mounting pressure, but Bethlehem, like other Palestinian areas, is still sealed off from Israel - so workers are still shut out. Commercial activity, as well as tourism, will continue to suffer.

Israel regards closures as a vital weapon in its fight against violence, but its punitive measures have been criticised by local and international human rights groups as unnecessarily harsh.