Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has issued a decree outlawing the armed groups of the Islamic militant group Hamas and said its members would be prosecuted.
Earlier, a senior aide to Mr Abbas said the Hamas movement itself was declared banned. However, his office later said the ban applied only to the armed groups of Hamas.
According to a decree issued by Mr Abbas, the ban applies to the Hamas militia, known as the Executive Force, and to Hamas' other armed groups.
Mr Abbas wrote that he decided to "consider the Executive Unit and the militias of the Hamas movement illegal, due to their military coup against the Palestinian legitimacy and its institutions."
"Anyone who is involved in any of these two groups is going to be punished, according to the law and the orders of the state of emergency," the decree said.
Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said that Mr Abbas "unfortunately is involved in the American-Israeli conspiracy, along with some Arab parties, to bring down the Hamas movement.
"Hamas as a movement has ties and roots to the hearts of the Palestinians, and the resistance will continue and cannot be stopped," he said.