Israeli Army Kills Two Palestinians In Refugee Camp Raid

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Two Palestinians have been killed and four wounded during an overnight Israeli army raid on the Qalandiya refugee camp in the central occupied West Bank. Ahmed Jahajha, 21, and Hikmet Hamdan, 29, were both shot dead by Israeli forces before dawn on Wednesday morning. While inside the camp, Israeli troops raided a local medical centre and clashed with youth, according to locals.

Mona Sabella, legal research and advocacy coordinator for the Al-Haq human rights organisation, said that Israel’s raids on refugee camps in the West Bank “put at risk the Palestinian civilian population”.

“The Israeli occupying power has a responsibility to protect under international law; this is especially true in refugee camps that are overcrowded [and where] homes are very close to one another,” Sabella told Al Jazeera.  An Israeli army spokesman confirmed the deaths, adding that Hamdan was shot dead as he tried to ram his vehicle into Israeli soldiers during a raid to “make an arrest and confiscate weapons” in the refugee camp.