RAMALLAH, West Bank — The Israeli military partly closed off the main Palestinian city in the West Bank on Monday, sealing off roads out of the city intermittently after a nearby shooting the day before that wounded three soldiers.

Citing “situation assessments,’’ the military said only residents of Ramallah could enter and only residents of other cities and humanitarian cases were allowed to leave until further notice.

Ramallah is the seat of the Palestinian Authority and is a commercial center, drawing workers from around the West Bank. “Internal closures’’ were common during the Palestinian uprising that ended a decade ago but have been rarely used in recent years.

The move came a day after a Palestinian police officer who served as a bodyguard for the Palestinian attorney general opened fire at a checkpoint near the city, wounding three soldiers.

Despite the measure, a row of about 100 cars queued at a checkpoint that was closed in the morning could be seen streaming through, and a main road out of the city, which had earlier been closed, was later opened.

Palestinians said the measure was collective punishment for the act of one individual.

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

Israel has struggled to contain a wave of near-daily Palestinian attacks, which began in Jerusalem in mid-September and later spread to the West Bank and cities across Israel. It has beefed up security, sending troops to patrol its cities and erecting checkpoints in Arab areas of east Jerusalem.

The wave of violence has claimed the lives of 26 Israelis and one American student. At least 151 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire.

Thousands of Palestinians gathered in Nablus Monday to pay respects to Amjad Sukkari, a 34-year-old bodyguard for the Palestinian attorney general. Sukkari drew a gun at a West Bank checkpoint and fired at three Israeli soldiers before he was fatally shot by troops Sunday, the military said.

Among the mourners was Nablus governor Akram Rajoub. “It doesn’t mean I agree with what he has done,’’ Rajoub said. “I’m against policemen carrying out attacks, but we are people who respect their martyrs and dead.’’