Israeli soldiers killed seven Palestinians in West Bank raids yesterday.
They have also reimposed a curfew on Bethlehem after briefly withdrawing from the centre of Jesus' traditional birthplace over Christmas.
Those killed included five wanted men and two unarmed bystanders - a student and a traffic policeman. Twenty Palestinians and five Israeli soldiers were wounded in the fighting.
An Israeli official, meanwhile, has confirmed that the military has begun setting up buffer zones around Jewish settlements in the West Bank to keep out Palestinian attackers.
Palestinian officials complain that Israel is further expanding settlements with such fenced-in no-go zones.
Two of Thursday's arrest sweeps were carried out in Ramallah.
In the morning, soldiers stopped a car with two wanted Hamas activists in downtown Manara Square. Troops opened fire when one of the men drew a gun, killing him, the army said.
An assault rifle, two guns and cash were found in the car. Several Palestinians threw stones at soldiers during the arrest, and troops fired toward the stone-throwers, killing a 19-year-old traffic policeman.
Later, a van carrying soldiers drove into the compound of Ramallah Hospital and stopped outside the guards' room, said Mustafa Issa, the governor of Ramallah. Soldiers demanded that the guards surrender and fired after the first calls were ignored. Three guards came out, waving white T-shirts and soldiers then fired again to flush out stragglers. A fourth guard was found wounded in the room and later died.
PA