The Palestinian government has been carrying out a rare and lethal sweep against militants in a flashpoint West Bank city, saying it was needed to foil an imminent car-bombing and other attacks.

At least one person was killed as Palestinian security forces clashed with Palestinian militants and set up checkpoints on Saturday in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin, residents and medics said.

The authority, which has struggled to crack down on powerful armed groups in the territory, is under pressure from the United States to escalate law-and-order operations.

Palestinian Authority security forces have battled Islamist fighters in Jenin for days, as they wrestle to exert control of one of the historic centres of militancy in the West Bank ahead of a likely shakeout in Palestinian politics after the Gaza war.

Clashes between Palestinian security forces and militants killed a young Palestinian in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin on Monday, the security forces said.Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas condemned the actions of the security forces in Jenin,

In the past week, the Palestinian Authority has made its most intense show of force in years. Its security forces have surrounded and are attacking the occupied West Bank city of Jenin and its refugee camp,

Hamas called on "all movements, factions, tribal gatherings, and human rights organizations to mobilize massively" to repel the ongoing operation carried out by Palestinian Authority security forces in the West Bank city of Jenin in an official statement on Tuesday.