Israel Defense Forces troops shot and killed a Palestinian teenager in Bethlehem on Tuesday as they confronted protesters during a raid to arrest a wanted militant in the West Bank city, medics and witnesses said.

Palestinian witnesses said troops were surrounding a house where a militant was suspected of hiding when they were attacked by protesters hurling stones, prompting the soldiers to open fire.

Medics said a 13-year-old boy died after being shot in the chest and said two other people were wounded.

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The Israeli rescue service Zaka said a soldier was lightly injured by a grenade thrown at the troops during the clashes, amending an earlier report that there had been an explosion near a Jewish settlement in the Bethlehem area.

The IDF had no immediate comment on the incident, which witnesses said took place near Manger Square, the site of Jesus' birth in Bethlehem, south of Jerusalem.

IDF soldier killed in fire exchange in central Gaza
An IDF tracker was killed early Tuesday in exchanges of fire with Palestinian gunmen in the central Gaza Strip.

"I can confirm that an Israel Defence Forces non-commissioned officer was killed by gunfire," an IDF spokesman said.

"[Soldiers] were fired upon in central Gaza... during an operation to eliminate terrorist infrastructure."

IDF reservists set out for a routine operation adjacent to the security fence in central Gaza early Tuesday morning. During the operation, the troops entered a house near near Dir el-Balah, where a gun battle erupted between the soldiers and two armed Palestinians.

The tracker was hit and critically wounded in the exchange of fire. He died a short time later.

The armed wing of the governing Hamas movement and the Popular Resistance Committees said in a joint statement they carried out an ambush.

Army Radio said the Israeli force included infantry and combat engineers.

IDF troops have intensified military operations in the coastal area after militants tunneled into Israel and attacked an army post on June 25, killing two soldiers and kidnapping a third.

IAF destroys home of Hamas official

An Israel Air Force air strike early Tuesday destroyed the Gaza home of a senior Palestinian security official, witnesses said.

Witnesses said that an IAF aircraft circled over the city before firing a heavy missile at the house in the Sabra neighborhood, where the two-story building was destroyed.

Rescue teams and paramedics rushed to the scene. There were no reports of casualties at the house, which belongs to a activist in the Islamic movement Hamas.

An Israel Defense Forces spokesman said the house was targeted because it was being used to store weapons.

Meanwhile, Palestinian security sources and eyewitnesses said that an IAF missile had missed a group of wanted Islamic Jihad militants in the southern Gaza Strip town of Rafah. No injuries were reported in the Rafah air strike.

The Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip were carried out as Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas leaders agreed on a Palestinian national coalition government to ends their ongoing conflict.