The Israeli army arrested
one of the commanders of Palestinian President Yasser Arafat's elite Force 17 guard unit in an overnight raid in the West Bank, Palestinian security officials said.
Elsewhere, Israeli forces arrested 10 suspected militants in villages near the West Bank city of Nablus overnight.
An Israeli army spokesman said they all had links to the radical Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and one was suspected of involvement in a suicide bombing.
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Smoke rising over a house in Nablus Photograph: Reuters
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Palestinian officials confirmed the arrests but put the number of people detained at 12.
The PFLP was behind the assassination of a right-wing Israeli cabinet minister last October.
The army has carried out regular sweeps for suspected militants in Palestinian-ruled cities, towns, villages and refugee camps following Palestinian suicide bombings that have killed scores of Israelis.
Israeli troops have also reoccupied seven of the eight cities in the West Bank, including Nablus. Israel says the measures are needed to prevent suicide bombings but the Palestinians say they are a collective punishment.