Israeli forces have killed two Palestinians, one an elderly man shot in the West Bank and the other a Hamas militant in Gaza hit by an air strike.

The army said it responded to fire as troops entered a house in Hebron. The 67-year-old man was killed and his 65-year-old wife was seriously wounded.

In Gaza Strip, the army said it killed an armed militant planting a bomb.

Over 50 Palestinians have been killed in the last few weeks, as Israel stepped up raids on militant suspects.

The Israeli military been shelling Gaza regularly, and occasionally launching land incursions, aimed at stopping the firing of Qassam rockets into Israel.

In May an Israeli woman was killed by a Qassam rocket, the first fatality since November 2006 from almost daily Palestinian rocket fire.

Circumstances disputed

The Israeli military said troops in Hebron opened fire on a man who tried to assault them during an arrest raid.

Officials said occupants in the house threw a gas canister and other household objects at them. It said two wanted men inside the house were arrested.

A Palestinian security source said soldiers came to a house before dawn and shot dead the man who answered the door, afterwards shooting his wife.

Family members quoted by Israeli newspaper Haaretz says the soldiers fired on them after a verbal confrontation, and that they had not attack the soldiers physically.

Hospital officials said in all seven members of the family of the dead man, Yahya al-Jabari, were wounded.

Meanwhile, a summit scheduled for Thursday between Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas has been postponed indefinitely.

Palestinian officials said the postponement resulted from difficulties in preparation and more discussions were needed.

PHOTO CAPTION

Funeral for slain Gaza militant