Israeli soldiers kill Palestinian in raid- medics

HEBRON, West Bank, June 6 (Reuters) Israeli soldiers shot and killed a Palestinian man today apparently during a military raid against militants in the occupied West Bank town of Hebron, a Palestinian security source said.

The source told Reuters that soldiers came to a house in Hebron before dawn and shot a man who answered the door, killing him, then shot his wife, wounding her.

Medics said the man was 67. Three other men in the home were also wounded by gunfire, the source said.

An Israeli military source said soldiers opened fire during an operation to arrest Palestinian gunmen.

''There was a shooting in response to an attempt to assault one of the soldiers,'' the source said.

Israel has stepped up raids against suspected militants in the territory it captured in a 1967 Middle East war and in the Gaza Strip, in response to an increasing number of rocket attacks from Gaza against Israeli towns in the past few weeks.

REUTERS JK BST0631