3 Palestinians killed in Syria clashes

Three Palestinian refugees were killed on Tuesday in clashes across Syria, a local group said. Ammar Ammora was critically injured by shelling in the Moroccan neighborhood of Yarmouk camp and later died from his injuries, the Taskforce for Palestinians in Syria said. Abed Khader and Bilal Najib were also killed in Yarmouk. Syrian regime forces and Free Syria Army fighters clashed near Yarmouk municipality and around Thirty Street and Palestine Street, with a UNRWA center in the camp severely damaged. Daraa refugee camp was also targeted by the Syrian army, causing damage to several homes. In Homs, Yasser Gharib, a refugee from the Galilee, was detained by Syria's army. Troops positioned at a checkpoint near Kafr Aya also arrested an unidentified teacher from al-Aedin refugee camp. Meanwhile, a Palestinian taken hostage by Syrian rebels was released this week. Engineer Ibrahim al-Hawwash was freed after Palestinian Authority officials and the ambassador to Turkey intervened. More than half of the 530,000 Palestinian refugees registered in Syria have been displaced and 15 percent have fled abroad, including 60,000 to neighboring Lebanon and over 7,000 to Jordan. In March, the Action Group for Palestinians of Syria said that over 1,377 Palestinians had been killed in the ongoing Syria conflict, with that number thought to have increased significantly since then.