Palestinian police arrest 2 Islamic Jihad leaders

GAZA CITY (CNN) -- Two top leaders of the radical Islamic Jihad group were arrested Saturday, Palestinian police said.

Shadi Mohanna, and his second-in-command, Mahmud Jahud, directed the wing of the militant group in northern Gaza, police said.

Their arrests come a day after six Palestinians were killed during a clash between Palestinian police and protesters in Jabaliya, a refugee camp in northern Gaza.

An estimated 72 others were wounded -- 10 of them critically, Gaza hospital sources said.

Palestinian police told CNN that Mohanna and Jahud were involved in Friday's gun battle.

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Islamic Jihad has refused to follow the lead of the Palestinian militant group Hamas, which announced Friday it would end suicide attacks inside Israel.

Following weeks of international pressure on the Palestinian Authority to quell the violence, Palestinian Authority leader Yasser Arafat called for a cease-fire December 16. In an earlier statement, he promised to find and arrest those responsible for planning attacks on Israel.

After days of debate inside Hamas about how to respond to Arafat's cease-fire call, Hamas announced Friday it would "halt to the martyrdom (suicide) operations inside the land occupied in 1948 (Israel) and a halt to firing mortars until further notice."

Yet leaders of Islamic Jihad called on Palestinian police to ignore the call, accusing the Palestinian Authority and Arafat of selling Palestinians' security to buy the security of the enemy. A high-ranking Islamic Jihad official told CNN the group would not suspend "any resistance activities."

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine also rejected Arafat's recent call for a cease-fire.

The Israeli government rejected what it said were "mixed messages" from the Palestinians and said Hamas still poses a serious threat.