Escalating violence in the Gaza Strip exploded this week into one of the worst clashes since the intifada began.
Masses of rioting Palestinian youths confronted security forces at refugee camps in Rafah, the southernmost town in the Gaza Strip. The Israel Defense Force reported at least 29 people wounded. Arab sources put the wounded at 71.
Eyewitnesses said the encounter was more violent than any since the early stages of the intifada two years ago. The IDF fired tear gas from helicopters to quell the rioting.
The eruption came in reaction to the deaths of two local youths in a single week. The second to die was Jamal al-Amas, 20, an intifada activist who did time at the Ketziot detention camp in the Negev.
Amas was wounded in a clash with the IDF and later succumbed. As news of his death circulated, hundreds of Palestinians gathered outside his home in violation of a curfew.
Soldiers were sent to disperse them and the rioting began.
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