Israeli soldiers seized a top official of the Islamic movement Hamas during a pre-dawn swoop in the city of Nablus on Sunday, his family said.
The raid came as Israelis and Palestinians said they hoped a meeting could soon be fixed between their prime ministers to discuss reviving a U.S.-backed peace blueprint and ending more than three years of violence.
Progress has been jolted by Israeli premier Ariel Sharon's ultimatum to the Palestinians last week to ensure the "road map" succeeds by cracking down on militants or face unilateral Israeli steps that would leave them with less land.
The brother of West Bank Hamas leader Adnan Asfour said Israeli troops stormed the apartment block in Nablus during the early hours, lined the residents up outside, identified Asfour and took him away. The army declined to comment.
The 39-year-old Asfour was seen by Palestinians as a relative moderate in a group that is sworn to Israel's destruction and has spearheaded a suicide bombing campaign that has killed hundreds of Israelis over the past three years.
His seniority in the West Bank came partly because of the killing or arrest of other leaders by the Israelis. Asfour had always said he had only a political and not a military role.
Israeli troops have staged fewer raids on militant leaders during a two-month spell of relative calm while contacts have grown to try to rekindle the stalled peace process.
Israeli ultimatum
But Israel says the quiet is deceptive and that it has picked up more than 20 would-be suicide bombers before they could reach their targets. Israel demands that the Palestinians deal with the militants themselves as a road map commitment.
Sharon said last week that Israel would do more to meet its own pledges under the peace plan favored by Washington, removing outposts, freezing the construction of Jewish settlements and easing restrictions on Palestinian cities.
But he warned that if the peace plan failed, Israel would take unilateral measures under a "Disengagement Plan" that would leave the Palestinians with less land than they might have got through negotiations.
Officials from both sides said more high-level talks were due midweek to prepare the ground for a meeting between Sharon and his Palestinian counterpart Ahmed Qureia.
A meeting between the premiers is widely seen as essential for pushing forward with the road map, which is meant to give the Palestinians a state by 2005 on land that Israel has occupied since the 1967 Middle East war.
"The meeting could happen as soon as this week, but it depends on whether the Palestinians will change their conditions," one Israeli source told Reuters.
Qureia has said he would only meet Sharon if work halts on the giant barrier Israel is building through the West Bank. Israelis say they need it to keep out suicide bombers, but Palestinians call it a land grab.
Sharon said last week that work would be speeded up on the obstacle of concrete and wire, despite concerns from his main U.S. ally over a planned route cutting deep into the West Bank.
