Israeli occupation troops shot dead seven Palestinians in raids across the West Bank and swept back into Bethlehem to re-impose a curfew on Thursday, ending a brief Christmas respite from occupation. The flurry of Israeli army operations drew vows of revenge from Palestinian resistance groups, aggravating hostilities which the United States wants kept in check to help it cultivate Arab support for possible war against Iraq.

In Bethlehem, occupation troops fired teargas at Palestinians shopping near the town center, ordering them by loudspeakers to return home, and resumed patrols in front of the ancient Church of the Nativity, which Christians revere as Jesus's birthplace.

"The curfew was put back in place a short time ago for operational needs," an Israeli occupation army source said.

The occupation army reoccupied Bethlehem a month ago after a Palestinian resistance bomber from the town blew up a bus in nearby Jerusalem, killing 11 Israelis. But after an appeal from Pope John Paul, Israeli occupation forces pulled back to the outskirts of Bethlehem on Tuesday to allow Christmas observances to proceed.

Despite that, Palestinian Christians called it one of their dreariest Christmas in the West Bank biblical town.

Two years of bloodshed in a Palestinian fight for statehood on territory Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war has scared away pilgrims and tourists who once flocked to Bethlehem.

Several occupation army patrols rumbled over Bethlehem's cobblestone streets on Thursday. Occupation soldiers arrested at least one man, identified as a Palestinian intelligence officer, and there were sporadic clashes with stone-throwers.

The return to Bethlehem coincided with rapid-fire sweeps for resistance activists in other West Bank cities and towns reoccupied by Israeli occupation forces following a spate of resistance bombings in June.

Israeli occupation army sources called the raids "counter-terrorism operations."

"The escalation of violence by (Israeli Prime Minister Ariel) Sharon is aimed at creating a volatile atmosphere which he believes will serve him in his election campaign," Palestinian Information Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo told Reuters.

"Sharon is inviting retaliation because he wants ... to prevent any possibility of an agreement (between Palestinian factions) on a cease-fire," he said. Sharon's government says any internal Palestinian truce discussions have not been serious.

SPATE OF SHOOTINGS

In the West Bank city of Ramallah, Israeli undercover troops riddled a car with gunfire, killing Bassem al-Ashqar of the Islamic movement Hamas, the main group behind resistance bombings against Israelis in a Palestinian uprising for independence.

An Israeli occupation army source said troops had tried to detain two wanted men in a car but one of them opened fire. "The force returned fire and killed him," the source said. The second fugitive was taken into custody, he added.

Palestinian witnesses denied anyone had shot at Israeli occupation soldiers in the incident.

Witnesses said occupation troops also shot dead a 19-year-old bystander and an occupation army spokesman said another Palestinian was shot dead later in Ramallah while trying to escape arrest.

Earlier on Thursday, Israeli occupation soldiers killed a senior Palestinian Jihad resistance leader in a raid near the northern West Bank town of Jenin. The occupation army said troops and armor surrounded a house in the village of Qabatiya and killed Hamza Abu Roub, 35, in a gunbattle in which four occupation soldiers were wounded.

"Our military wing and fighters will avenge this crime," said Sheikh Abdallah al-Shami of Jihad in Gaza.

The occupation army said its troops killed two Palestinian resistance men in fighting in the center of the northern West Bank city of Nablus. Hospital officials said more than 20 people were wounded.

In the West Bank city of Tulkarm, an Israeli undercover unit killed Jamal Nader Mohammad Yahya, a member of Palestinian President Yasser Arafat's Fatah faction, in front of his house.

Palestinian sources said he belonged to the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades.

Israeli occupation army sources said border police tried to arrest him and opened fire after he ignored warning shots.

Later in the day, Palestinian witnesses said a 65-year-old man died in the village of Ramem near Tulkarm after Israeli occupation troops fired concussion grenades near him during a raid.

PHOTO CAPTION

A Palestinian displays palms soaked with the blood of Bassem al-Ashqar, a Hamas militant, who was shot dead by Israeli forces in the center of the West Bank City of Ramallah December 26, 2002. Israeli forces shot dead four Palestinians, including two resistance activists, in a rapid-fire series of raids across the West Bank that drew vows of revenge. (Osama Silwadi/Reuter