The United States has criticised the Israeli move into PLO headquarters in East Jerusalem. They described it as a "political escalation" that undermined confidence in a negotiated settlement.
The Palestinians see the building as their future seat of government. Dozens of Israeli police swarmed around the entrance of the building, known as Orient House, and raised an Israeli flag at its peaked roof.
Inside the building, they detained seven Palestinian security guards, confiscated documents and found an Uzi submachine gun, a police spokesman said.
Israeli Cabinet Secretary, Gideon Saar, told Israeli radio that the move was meant to force the Palestinians to "fulfil their commitments, to fight terror, to fight violence and to honour the agreements they signed". It has, however, anger the Palestinians and is sure to provoke a strong reaction.
The Palestinian President said that overnight attacks carried out by the Israeli security forces will only fuel the cycle of violence. Yasser Arafat condemned an Israeli missile attack that destroyed a West Bank police station as a "dangerous escalation" of the 10 months of violence in the Middle East.
Israeli warplanes bombed the Palestinian police headquarters at Ramallah in the West Bank. Palestinian security sources said that no one was injured in the bombing, but that the building was badly damaged.
The warplanes were used in retaliation for yesterday's suicide bombing in Jerusalem. At least 16 people, including the Palestinian bomber, were killed when a bomb exploded in a busy pizza parlour on the Jaffa Road. The militant Islamic Jihad group claimed responsibility.
Although the Palestinian leader condemned the extremists behind yesterday's bombing, an Israeli government official has claimed that Yasser Arafat was indirectly responsible for it. Israeli government spokesman, Daniel Seaman, said on Morning Ireland that this was because Mr Arafat had failed to arrest known militants.
Mr Arafat has said that the heavy overnight strikes had escalated the conflict, but would strengthen the Palestinian movement.
Israeli police are on alert in East Jerusalem today, ahead of weekly Muslim prayers. Severe restrictions have been placed on access to the quarter's al-Aqsa mosque compound, police said. Only residents of East Jerusalem will be permitted into the compound, and then only if they are at least 40 years old.
Residents of the West Bank nearby have been prevented from praying in East Jerusalem for the past six months. This is a result of the blockade imposed by Israel following the September outbreak of the Palestinian uprising.
US Secretary of State, Colin Powell, has called for restraint on both sides. However, Israeli Justice Minister, Meir Shtrit, said that negotiations with Palestinians would not take place unless there was a cessation of violence against the Israeli people.
