Israeli soldiers shot dead a Palestinian during an arrest raid in the northern West Bank city of Nablus Wednesday evening, the Palestinian Ma'an news agency reported.

An Israeli military spokesman in Tel Aviv said a special army force drove into Nablus to arrest a 'wanted' militant of President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement.

During the incursion into the city's Ras al-Ayn neighbourhood, violent clashes erupted between the Israeli troops and Palestinian gunmen and stone-throwing residents.

The Israeli spokesman said shots were fired at the troops and four fire bombs launched at them. The soldiers fired at the leg of a Palestinian seen running away from the scene of the arrest, he told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

Ma'an said the Palestinian, 25-year-old Walid Freitikh, was hit in the leg several times and bled to death before ambulances could reach the area.

The force arrested a 22-year-old member of Fatah's armed wing, the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, who had received partial amnesty from Israel as part of a deal with Abbas.

Under the deal, gunmen of his Fatah movement must sign a pledge not to return to militant activity and are scrapped off Israel's 'wanted' list after a several-month trial period.

The Israeli military spokesman said the al-Aqsa militant was arrested because he had violated the agreement and returned to militant activity despite signing it.

The troops arrested a second militant who had been released by Israel just two weeks ago along with about 200 other Palestinian prisoners, Ma'an said.