Two Palestinians, one a three-year-old boy, were killed and more than 30 wounded inthe Gaza Strip today when Israeli troops raided a refugeecamp and demolished houses security forces said concealedarms-smuggling tunnels.
Israeli soldiers also shot dead two gunmen trying topenetrate an Israeli town from the nearby frontier with Egypt.
The southern Gaza Strip has been a flashpoint during thePalestinian uprising for independence and the army often raidsRafah camp in operations it says are aimed at destroying tunnelsdug by militants to bring arms into Gaza from Egypt.
Troops used tanks and bulldozers in their overnight raidinto the teeming refugee camp, searching houses for tunnels, andmedics said a 26-year-old Rafah man, Ibrahim Alghuti, was killedby Israeli machinegun fire and five people were wounded.
Soldiers found one tunnel access point behind a baby's criband another in a kitchen. They removed the occupants of bothhouses and then demolished them, security sources said.
The force of the blast brought down the walls of nearbyhomes, killing a three-year-old boy in one and wounding at least25 people in others.
Rafah is a stronghold of Palestinian militants, and thesecurity sources said grenades were thrown at troops during theraid.