Tel Aviv - Israeli army and police forces killed a wanted Palestinian militant in the West Bank city of Hebron in the early hours Sunday, Israeli media reported.

Shihab Natsheh died in a gunbattle at a hideout being used by militants from of the radical Palestinian Islamic Hamas group, the Ynet news website said quoting the Israeli Defence Force.

An Israeli army spokeswoman said Sunday forces had swooped on Hebron the previous night.

The Israeli army suspected Natsheh of having masterminded the February 2007 suicide bomb attack in Dimona in southern Israel in which a 73-year-old woman was killed. (dpa)