Hamas security forces on Saturday evening attacked members and leaders of the rival Fatah faction who came to offer condolences over the death of Mohammed Ayoub, 14, in clashes Friday between Palestinian demonstrators and IDF soldiers along the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel.

The attack came after a verbal altercation erupted between Hamas and Fatah members at the tent in Gaza City, set up by the Ayoub family to receive condolence calls over the death of their son.

Hamas security officers later dismantled the tent and ordered all those present to leave immediately, a source in the Gaza Strip said.

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A senior Fatah operative, Abed Al Majdalawi, was lightly injured during the Hamas raid, the source added.

It was not immediately clear what had triggered the verbal altercation between the representatives of the two rival parties. However, such confrontations have become commonplace in various parts of the Gaza Strip since Hamas violently seized control of the coastal enclave more than 10 years ago.

Sources close to Hamas accused Fatah of seeking to exploit the death of the boy “to score political points.” The sources claimed that Fatah activists who came to offer condolences over the death of the boy tried to convince his family to make statements in support of Fatah leader and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

Atef Abu Seif, a spokesperson for Fatah in the West Bank, condemned what he called the Hamas “assault” on the Ayoub family’s mourning tent.

The “assault,” he said, “contravened all traditions of national work and was in violation of Palestinian national values.

“Fatah had the honor of sacrificing three martyrs last Friday,” Abu Seif continued. “We condemn what Hamas did against the family of martyr Mohammed Ayoub and call on all Palestinian factions to assume their responsibilities in order to put an end to these irresponsible actions.”</s>If you needed any more proof that the Sydney housing crisis is completely out of control, a tent has been offered up for rent in a resident's garden.</s>GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) - The Health Ministry in Gaza says two Palestinian youths have died of wounds they sustained in Israeli fire during protests near the Israel-Gaza border.

Monday's deaths raise to 34 the numbers of Palestinians killed in mass protests along the border since March 30.

The two were identified as an 18-year-old who was shot in the head earlier this month and a 20-year-old son of a senior Hamas commander killed in clashes with more radical extremists in 2009.

The Islamic militant group Hamas controls the Gaza Strip and has organized the protests.

The demonstrations are set to climax with a massive march to the border on May 15, when Palestinians mark the "nakba," or catastrophe, of their uprooting during the war over Israel's creation in 1948.
Rival Hamas and Fatah members clash in the Gaza Strip at a tent set up by the family of Mohammed Ayoub, 14, to receive condolences on his death in the protests. Hamas later dismantles the tent and orders all present to leave.