Israeli forces fought Palestinian gunmen in the divided West Bank city of Hebron today after a soldier was killed in an ambush.
Earlier the bodies of two Palestinians were discovered after they had been shot by soldiers overnight.
The violence has flared as the Palestinian parliament today presented a bill creating the post of prime minister to Chairman Yasser Arafat for ratification.
International mediators had demanded Palestinians name a prime minister to carry out sweeping reforms seen as crucial to curbing the violence and reviving peace talks with Israel.
But Islamic militants repudiated the introduction of a prime minister as a ploy imposed by the United States and Israel to "crush resistance" and vowed to continue attacks on Israelis.
In the Gaza Strip today, Israeli soldiers found the bodies of two Palestinians shot and killed overnight by soldiers who suspected they were laying landmines near the Jewish settlement of Kfar Darom, an army spokesman said.
Palestinian witnesses said the two were killed in an gunfire with troops.
Today's violence in Hebron stemmed from an attack on Monday night when Palestinians ambushed Israeli troops near the Cave of the Patriarchs, the traditional burial place of the biblical patriarch Abraham.
An Israeli soldier was killed in the gun battle.