Palestinian crackdown

Palestinian police arrest more than 100 militants Hamas spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmad Yassin reported under house arrest Palestinian Authority declares state of emergency

He is due to speak to the nation in a televised address later in the day, before holding a full cabinet meeting.

In a first step, the Israeli army tightened its blockade around Palestinian towns and villages in the West Bank, while the Palestinian Authority declared a state of emergency in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Palestinian security forces are reported to have arrested over 100 militants on the West Bank and Gaza amid intense international pressure on Yasser Arafat to take decisive action against radical Palestinian groups.

Israeli crackdown

Ariel Sharon flies home early for emergency meetings Blockade tightened on West Bank Israeli army erects new checkpoints

Palestinian sources said most of those arrested belong to the militant Islamic movement Hamas, which said it carried out suicide attacks on Saturday and Sunday which killed 25 Israelis and wounded scores more.

About 1,000 Hamas supporters marched through Gaza at the funeral of a Palestinian gunman on Monday, defying a ban by the Palestinian Authority.

The demonstrators fired automatic weapons into the air and called for more attacks against Israel.

In Egypt, meanwhile, the highest authority in Sunni Islam, Sheikh Mohammed Sayyed Tantawi, condemned suicide bombings, saying Islam rejected the killing of innocent people.

Reaction awaited

The Israeli cabinet and security chiefs will discuss the scale and scope of the Israeli military response to the suicide bombings.

Palestinian police arrest a suspected militant

The BBC's Jeremy Cooke in Jerusalem says the Palestinian Authority is trying to convince both the Israelis and the outside world that it is finally making a serious effort to bring the extremists under control.

He says the arrests of militants in the West Bank and Gaza have happened before, only for those detained to be released after a few days.

This time, the Israelis will demand that things are different, setting the Palestinian leadership a difficult, perhaps impossible task, says our correspondent.

Mr Arafat must convince the Israeli leadership that he is serious about the crackdown on extremists.

He also knows that groups such as Islamic Jihad and Hamas are hugely popular among his own people.

US muted

Sharon cut short a visit to the United States

US President George W Bush, who met Mr Sharon in Washington on Sunday, said Mr Arafat "must do everything in his power to find those who murdered innocent Israelis and bring them to justice".

Significantly, the US did not even issue its usual public appeal to Israel to show restraint.

US Secretary of State Colin Powell said he told Mr Arafat the Palestinian leader was facing a "moment of truth" as the bombings were also attacks on his authority over the Palestinians.

	WEEKEND ATTACKS: Saturday night: Suicide attacks and car bomb in Jerusalem kill at least 10 Sunday: Two gunmen kill Israeli in Gaza Suspected gunmen pursued and killed by Israeli forces Suicide bomber kills at least 15 on bus in Haifa Four Palestinians shot dead in gun battle in Jenin Monday: Fifth Palestinian shot dead by Israeli soldiers in Jenin

And, in what the BBC's Washington correspondent says is a sign that American criticism of Israeli tactics will be muted, US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said any Israeli action should be seen not as revenge, but as self-defence.

At the same time, a senior Palestinian security source told the BBC that, if Israel engages in punitive retaliation, then no-one will be able to rein in the militants.

In continuing violence, Israeli troops shot dead a Palestinian near the West Bank town of Jenin on Monday morning.

The army said it believed he was trying to plant a bomb, but Palestinian sources said he was a farmer going to work.

Hours earlier, Israeli soldiers shot dead four Palestinians in a gun battle near Jenin.

The military said the men were planning to carry out another attack in Israel.