Jerusalem ? Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat repeated a call to halt violence Thursday, and his security forces arrested three suspects in the assassination of an Israeli Cabinet minister, one of Israel’s conditions for releasing Arafat from a two-month siege.

Arafat’s West Bank office was among the targets of Israeli airstrikes Thursday, the third day of punishing Israeli reprisals for Palestinian attacks. At least seven Palestinians and an Israeli Arab were killed, and two Israeli soldiers wounded in the day’s bloodshed.

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon announced in a nationally televised speech and news conference that his government would set up buffer zones to separate Israel and the Palestinian ruled areas to provide security.

“In order to enhance the security of the citizens of Israel, and for the purpose of achieving a security separation, we have decided to establish buffer zones,” he said. “During a discussion of the Security Cabinet, it was decided to immediately begin marking buffer zones and placing obstacles along them.”

Palestinian security took a step toward easing tensions by arresting three suspects in the Oct. 17 assassination of Israeli Cabinet minister Rehavam Zeevi. Sharon spokesman Ranaan Gissin said the three must be put on trial before the blockade against Arafat would end.

Arafat said the three militants from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, arrested in a raid in Nablus, would be “put on trial in our territories,” rejecting calls that they be extradited. Col. Talal Dweikat said the arrest order came directly from Arafat.

Speaking to reporters, Arafat also urged a halt in fighting, referring to “the initiative that I began on Dec. 16 to make the cease-fire hold” shortly after Israel began its siege.