Israeli forces have arrested the West Bank chief of Mr Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement, Mr Marwan Barghuti, one of Israel's most wanted men and a leading proponent of the Palestinian uprising.
Mr Barghouti has been taken into custody by the Israeli military in a village near Ramallah the town in which Mr Arafat is under virtual house arrest.
Mr Barghouti, sometimes mentioned as a possible Arafat successor, is on Israel's wanted list for allegedly masterminding terror attacks.
He is a militant leader in Arafat's Fatah movement and an outspoken advocate of continued attacks on Israelis.
Palestinian security officials said the Israeli army raided a house in Ramallah, arresting Mr Barghouti, one of his bodyguards and Fatah official Ziad Abu Ain.
Mr Barghouti, who picked up fluent Hebrew in Israeli jails, is a leading figure, some say the leader, in the Al Aqsa Brigades.
Lebanon blasted Israel's arrest today of Mr Marwan Barghouthi, a key figure in Palestinian President Yasser Arafat's Fatah faction, and said it guaranteed the Palestinian uprising and attacks on Israelis would continue.
"It's regrettable that Israel has been able to arrest Marwan Barghouthi," said Information Minister Mr Ghazi al-Aridi, describing him as one of the leaders in the struggle against Israel's terrorism.
"But I am sure that even if Israel manages to arrest or liquidate most of these leaders, the Intifada will not be snuffed out, operations against Israelis," he said. "On the contrary...it will make the Palestinians more steadfast, more rebellious in the face of the Israeli occupation."
Earlier Palestinians and Israelis accused each other of opening fire around Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity today.
Bethlehem governor Mr Mohammed Al Madani, trapped with other civilians, some clergy, and 200 gunmen in the church marking the reputed birthplace of Jesus Christ, said one Palestinian was shot in the leg by Israeli sniper fire.
Israeli military officials said two Israeli soldiers had been wounded.
The area has been declared a closed military zone by the army and is off limits to journalists.
Two Palestinians were killed by Israeli army fire in separate incidents in the Bethlehem area this morning as Israeli forces searched for suspected militants, Palestinian officials said.
AFP