Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has banned Palestinians from carrying weapons and explosives without a license, part of a crackdown aimed at weakening Hamas Islamists in the West Bank.
The order is the latest of a series of decrees issued by Abbas since he sacked a Hamas-led government following the group's violent takeover of Gaza, and named a Western-backed emergency coalition in the occupied West Bank.
Earlier, Abbas has asked Israel for permission to bring Palestinian forces based in Jordan to the West Bank to try to shore up his control after Hamas's Gaza takeover.
Mr Abbas met yesterday with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert at the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, seeking support for the emergency government he appointed in the occupied West Bank after dismissing a unity cabinet led by Hamas Islamists.
"The Palestinians put in a request yesterday to transfer the Badr Brigade from Jordan to the West Bank," a senior Israeli government official said. "It is being evaluated and a decision will be made soon."
Israel wants Mr Abbas to do more to rein in militants and has been considering providing his forces with additional weapons.
Mr Abbas, leader of the Fatah faction that dominates the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO), had initially intended to send the Badr Brigade into the Gaza Strip to try to stop militants from firing makeshift rockets into Israel.
That deployment did not start and appears unlikely anytime soon with Hamas in firm control over the coastal territory.
In Gaza, a Hamas spokesman said the Badr forces, like all Palestinians, should be allowed to return to their lands - but not deployed to fight Hamas.
By some accounts, the Badr Brigade has less than 1,000 well-trained fighters.