The Israeli army confirmed on Monday that its troops shot and killed a Palestinian gunman near one of the Jewish settlement in southern West Bank area of Hebron, Israel Radio's Arabic service reported.

An army spokesman was quoted as saying that a Palestinian gunman opened fire at an Israeli army force as he was into a car that stopped near an Israeli army roadblock south of Hebron.

The soldiers fired back at the source of the fire and killed the Palestinian into the car, said the spokesman, adding four other Palestinians in the area were injured as well.

The soldiers found a machinegun near the body of the Palestinian who was killed and that the car the five were into was booby-trapped, stressed the spokesman.

However, reports on killing the Palestinians conflicted.

Palestinian security sources said one Palestinian civilian was killed and four injured after Israeli soldiers opened fire at their car south of Hebron.

The sources denied the Israeli allegations by saying that the five Palestinians might be workers, who tried to illegally enter into Israel to look for a job.

In the Gaza Strip, Israeli army warplanes carried out a series of intensive airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, mainly on the borderline area between Rafah town between southern Gaza Strip and Egypt.

Local Palestinians said that dozens of families in the town were seen leaving their homes closed to the borderline, adding that overnight, around six heavy bombs hit the area, causing severe damages, but no casualties were reported.

Israel Radio reported that Israeli air forces targeted the area where Palestinians dig tunnels under the border between Gaza and Egypt, which are used for smuggling.

An evacuated police station belongs to Hamas movement was also bombarded twice over night in central Gaza Strip. Severe damage was caused to the station, but no injuries were reported.

The Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip were carried out after Gaza militants launched around eight makeshift rockets and mortars from the Gaza Strip at Israeli communities in the south.

(Xinhua News Agency February 3, 2009)