Israeli forces swarmed into the West Bank town of Tulkarem, killing two people and arresting at least 20 suspected militants.
A Palestinian (19) was shot dead, and another man (42) was pronounced dead after being hit by bullets in a refugee camp. Eight other Palestinians were injured during clashes throughout the town.
In Ramallah, where Israeli forces have taken up positions in front of Mr Arafat's offices, a Palestinian security officer was shot dead in clashes with the Israeli forces.
During the dawn raid in Tulkarem, Israeli forces took over the house of Mayor Mahmud al-Jelad and the local offices of the Palestinian Legislative Council, Palestinian officials said.
It is the first time since the Palestinian Authority was set up in 1994 that the Israeli army has re-occupied a whole autonomous town.
The army said in a statement that the town was used as "a focal point for dispatching terrorist attacks and within the city there are many terrorist infrastructures and terrorists.
"The city was also the place from where the terrorist who carried out the shooting terror attack in Hadera last Thursday exited, in which six Israelis were killed and 30 injured."
- Romania has denied any link to the ship seized in the Red Sea by Israel which they claim was carrying 50 tonnes of weapons for use by Palestinian militia.
An official statement expressed surprise that the Chairman of the Palestinian Authority Mr Yasser Arafat made reference to Romania connection with the vessel, which was captured on January 3rd.
"No vessel with this name had any transport link with Romania in 2001 or in January 2002," the ministry said.
Mr Arafat claimed on Saturday that an Israeli company used the Karine Ato import construction materials from Romania and that it had also operated between Romania and the Israeli port of Ashdod.
AFP