Israeli soldiers have shot dead a 14-year-old Palestinian boy after troops and tanks raided a Gaza Strip refugee camp.
Palestinian sources said Mohammed Othman was killed when he was caught up in the raid while going to school. Three other people were also wounded, they said.
An Israeli military source said there were probably casualties from crossfire during heavy exchanges that erupted when troops backed by tanks raided Rafah to search for tunnels used to bring in weapons from neighbouring Egypt.
Palestinian President Yasser Arafat condemned the latest violence and linked it to Israel's plan to remove Jewish settlements in Gaza.
Witnesses said Israeli troops knocked down 10 houses in the raid on Rafah, a frequent flashpoint during more than three years of Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Palestinians also accused the Israelis of killing a militant who died in an explosion at his home in the Rafah camp, but the army said it was not responsible for the death of Awni Kulab, a field commander of the Popular Resistance Committees.
Thousands of people marched at his funeral, calling for reprisals. Thousands more joined a ceremony in Gaza City for three militants of the Hamas group who were killed in an Israeli air strike yesterday.
Mr Arafat accused Israel of "committing new massacres" in Gaza ahead of a plan to withdraw from settlements there by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who has pledged unilateral "disengagement steps" if peace talks stay stalled.