Deif, who has been in hiding for years, was placed under what the Palestinian Authority called "protective detention," Channel 1 said. The implication was that he was being arrested for his own safety.

Deif reportedly has had a hand in many attacks, including two 1996 suicide bombings of city buses in Jerusalem that killed 44 and wounded 52.

He is also wanted for the murder of an Israeli soldier in 1996 and was involved in the abduction and killing of another soldier in 1994.

Israel has sought his extradition since signing the Oslo accords, but the Palestinian Authority has refrained from handing over fugitives.