A Palestinian was shot early Monday by Israeli soldiers who said he had hurled a firebomb at them in the southern West Bank city of Hebron, a military spokeswoman told AFP.

"Palestinians hurled firebombs at an Israeli army outpost in Hebron. While the soldiers searched the area for suspects, additional firebombs were thrown at them and the soldiers responded with fire," the spokeswoman said.

"One of the suspects was injured and evacuated by army medics to hospital."

The spokeswoman said the Palestinian's condition was "stable" and that he was being treated at the Hadassah Ein Kerem hospital in Jerusalem.

The incident took place at the seam between the Palestinian part of the city and H2, a 4.3 square kilometre (1.7 square mile) tightly-controlled Israeli enclave in the centre of the city.

Hebron is the largest city in the West Bank and home to some 190,000 Palestinian residents.

But a core of 800 hardcore settlers also live in the heart of the city, protected by thousands of Israeli troops.