Thousands of angry Palestinian mourners on Monday buried 23 of those killed by Israeli soldiers in the southern Gaza town of Rafah during a large-scale operation carried out since last Tuesday.  

After siege was partly lifted in Rafah, thousands of residents of the two neighborhoods of Tal al Sultan and al Barazil rushed to the main hospital to take bodies of the dead.

Chanting slogans of revenge, the residents carried the bodies of the dead on their shoulders and headed toward the main cemetery of the town.

Palestinian medics said that some 14 bodies were kept in refrigerators at the houses of the Palestinians in Tal al Sultan, such as flower shops and grocery stores.

According to the medics, 45 Palestinians have been killed in the condemned "Operation Rainbow" in Rafah, and almost half of them were buried.

(Xinhua News Agency May 25, 2004)