The Palestinian Authority, as rioting raged in Gaza Monday evening, issued an urgent request to Israel to supply it with equipment for controlling riots, such as tear gas, Israel television reported this evening. This was interpreted as a sign of the seriousness of the situation in the West Bank and Gaza. There a state of emergency was declared, and schools and universities closed, after two days of protests in favor of Osama bin Laden, and against the American attack on the Taliban. Palestinian police shot and killed three people, including a 13-year-old. Over two hundred were injured, including many police.

Channel Two reported that Palestinian police chief in Gaza, Ghazi Jabali, has been suspended. Commentators for both of Israel's television channels said that a tense quiet now prevails in the areas controlled by the Palestinian Authority. But Channel Two's Arab Affairs expert, Ehud Yaari said Hamas appears to have carved out an autonomous power base with the tacit acceptance of the PA, and that this increased power would affect Palestinian policy vis-a-vis Israel.

Channel One reports that Israel, for its part, turned down the request for equipment, which its correspondent reported was to avoid being seen as intervening in Palestinian internal affairs. But Israel did offer some compliments. "For the first time we congratulate the Palestinian Authority for taking the measures which it promised to implement against terrorists," said Raanan Gissin, spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

The foreign press continues to be barred from entering Palestinian areas, and journalists inside Gaza report being intimidated. Palestinian leaders have said that demonstrations expressing support for bin Laden represent a minority view, and should not receive prominent attention. Enforcing that view, the security forces have repeatedly tried to prevent journalists from reporting on these protests. Security forces blocked a BBC television correspondent from entering Gaza.

Tuesday the BBC's Gaza correspondent Kylie Morris, inside Gaza, reported that policemen are very visible on every street corner. She said there was an intelligence van parked outside the building where the BBC and other foreign media have their offices, monitoring their movements.

The AP reported that Palestinian authorities also told journalists not to report on the bin Laden posters that appeared at a funeral procession Monday for a Palestinian killed a day earlier in the West Bank town of Hebron. "Our dear bin Laden, hit Tel Aviv,"' some of the mourners chanted.

As rioting continued, the Washington Post reported, Arafat's security forces reportedly made more than 120 arrests. That news pleased Israeli officials, who for have long demanded that Arafat detain Islamic militants. They were also heartened by reports this evening that Arafat had ordered the arrest of anyone who attacks Israelis, an order that would likely include members of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, militant groups that have carried out a string of bombings against Israelis.

"Better late than never," said Gissin. The Islamic militants, he asserted, "did what they wanted like a state within a state. Arafat tried to say it was Israel's problem, but now it's his problem and that's why he's taking action. It's a matter of survival for him."

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