Violence has erupted as thousands of Palestinians staged marches in support of Mr Yasser Arafat.
The marches went ahead in Ramallah and Gaza City as Palestinian gunmen traded fire with Israeli soldiers whose tank got stuck on a road in the West Bank town.
Twelve Palestinians and one Israeli soldier were wounded in the gunbattle that broke out shortly after the tank became stuck on a narrow residential road in Ramallah.
The incident occurred well away from Mr Arafat's office, which was encircled by Israeli forces for a third day.
Several hundred Palestinian journalists and academics who support Mr Arafat's Fatah movement marched to the Palestinian broadcasting centre destroyed in an Israeli explosion a day earlier.
In Gaza City, several thousand supporters, most of them Fatah members, marched to Mr Arafat's seaside compound, though the Palestinian leader hasn't been able to work there in nearly two months.
Several Israeli newspapers have speculated on whether Mr Arafat might resign or flee the Palestinian territories, but Mr Arafat spokesman Mr Nabil Aburdeneh dismissed the reports.
"The Israeli government is living with illusions, and are trying to transfer these illusions to the Palestinian people," Mr Aburdeneh said. "The Israelis are using psychological warfare against the Palestinians by putting Arafat under such a humiliating siege."
PA