ISRAELI occupation troops blockaded the West Bank city of Ramallah yesterday as collective punishment for a shooting attack the day before.

Soldiers closed all roads into the Palestinian Authority’s administrative capital.

Except in “humanitarian cases” only residents were allowed in and non-residents allowed out.

On Sunday police Sergeant Amjad Sukkar was shot dead by Israeli troops after he opened fire and wounded three of them in the city.

The father of four had served as a bodyguard for Palestinian Attorney General Abdul al-Eweiwi.

Palestinian police spokesman Adnan Damiri said: “They shouldn’t punish the entire governorate of Ramallah for a policeman who carried out an attack.”

In addition to being the centre of government in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Ramallah is a major commercial hub which employs workers from all over the territory.

Some checkpoints around Ramallah were closed as early as Sunday evening.

Clashes between young Palestinians and heavily armed Israeli soldiers broke out in the nearby village of Jabaa after hundreds of cars were left stranded.

Troops fired tear gas at vehicles trying to use unpaved tracks through the village to reach the southern West Bank.

Soldiers pursued the vehicles into the village where residents started throwing stones at them. The troops responded by firing rubber-coated bullets.

One youth was arrested for allegedly drawing a knife and motorists had their car keys confiscated.

Occupation forces arrested 16 Palestinians — including two teenagers — in raids overnight in Tulkarem, Nablus, Bethlehem, Ramallah and Qalqiliya.

And yesterday troops shot dead a 19-year-old Palestinian from Tulkarem near the illegal Israeli settlement of Salit.

An Israeli army spokesman claimed that Ahmad Tuba from the village of Kafr Jammal tried to stab the soldiers when they discovered him.

None of the troops were injured but Mr Tuba died at the scene.

A total of 151 Palestinians and 26 Israelis have been killed since September in violence sparked by a feared Israeli takeover of the Al-Aqsa mosque.