Palestinian police have put the founder of the militant Hamas under house arrest in Gaza City.
Palestinian police informed Sheikh Ahmed Yassin (65) that he has been put under house arrest and that he is barred from outside contacts.
Yassin, the spiritual leader of the militant group, has claimed responsibility for dozens of attacks against Israelis. He is a quadriplegic who is confined to a wheelchair.
Hamas claimed responsibility for two weekend suicide attacks in Jerusalem and Haifa that killed 25 people and the three bombers.
This afternoon the Israeli army suspended its strikes against the Palestinian Authority for 12 hours to test President Yasser Arafat's resolve to crack down on deadly Islamic militant groups.
"We want to see what Arafat is doing, if he is taking seriously the demands of the whole world. But we will continue to fight terror," said defence ministry spokesman Mr Yarden Vatikay.
Earlier, Mr Arafat asked for more time to arrest militants, as demanded by the US and Israel.
"They have to cool down to give me the chance," Mr Arafat told ABC Newsin response to a question about whether he was capable of arresting militants as the US had demanded.
He said his security forces had arrested 131 militants since the Islamic group Hamas carried out the latest suicide bombings in Jerusalem and Haifa.
Israel says Mr Arafat is arresting low-level activists and not those responsible for masterminding the recent wave of suicide attacks in Israel.
Last night Mr Bush reiterated his message to Mr Arafat to jail those responsible for the attacks.
"It is incumbent upon Mr Arafat now to respond forcefully, to root out those who killed," Mr Bush said in Florida.
However, the EU said today it did not share Israel's view of the Palestinian Authority as a terror-supporting entity and said Israel needed a partner to help fight extremism and make peace.
AFP