Israeli Soldiers Open Fire on Palestinians, Killing 5 : Uprising: At least 90 are hurt in Gaza’s bloodiest day since riots in May. Clashes erupted during celebration of a PLO anniversary.

Israeli troops shot and killed five Palestinians and wounded at least 90 people in clashes in the occupied Gaza Strip on Saturday, Israeli and Arab reports said.

The clashes were the bloodiest in Gaza since a wave of riots that swept through the seaside strip in May.

Some estimates put the number of wounded at more than 200.

The worst violence occurred in the Rafah refugee camp, where masked Palestinian youths were commemorating the 26th anniversary of the founding of the Palestine Liberation Organization’s mainstream Fatah movement on Jan. 1.

The youths had orchestrated a paramilitary march and were writing nationalistic slogans on walls, hanging outlawed Palestinian flags from electricity poles and putting up pictures of PLO leader Yasser Arafat, Palestinian sources said.

The army said the soldiers ordered a group of the Arab activists to halt and, when they refused, opened fire, killing two.

The army said the activists were carrying “cold” weapons. It did not elaborate, but the term refers to weapons that are not firearms, such as sticks, knives and chains.

The dead activists were identified as Osama Ismail Bulbeisi, 16, and Islam Harb, 19. Arab accounts said both were shot in the head.

News of the deaths spread in the refugee camp, and an angry Palestinian mob pelted soldiers with stones. Palestinians hurled at least 26 firebombs at the troops, and the soldiers opened fire again after finding themselves in a life-threatening situation, the army said.

Two Arabs were killed in that shooting, it said.

Palestinian journalists identified them as Hisham Abu Harb and Fawsi Eisa, both 19.

The military also said a Palestinian woman from Rafah was brought dead to Nasser Hospital in nearby Khan Yunis. It said the cause of her death was unclear, but the army included her in the overall toll of Palestinians injured or killed by army gunfire.

Reports of the number of wounded varied. Hospital and international relief sources said up to 236 Palestinians were shot by Israeli soldiers and treated at Nasser Hospital and the Rafah refugee camp clinic. Military sources reported 91 Palestinians and one Israeli army officer were wounded during the confrontations.

Rafah is known as a base of hard-core uprising activists who in the last seven months have killed at least 23 fellow Arabs on suspicion of helping Israel.

The last time Gaza was the site of such violence was following the May 20 killing of seven Gaza laborers by an Israeli gunman near Tel Aviv. In three days of rioting, Israeli troops shot to death 12 Palestinians and wounded hundreds.