6 Palestinians killed in Syria refugee camp

Six Palestinians were killed at dawn on Tuesday in the Yarmouk refugee camp in Syria after a bomb exploded near the local hospital, a statement issued by local group said. The blast near the Palestine Hospital in the refugee camp killed Ahmad al-Hasan, Fahed Abbas, Yassin al-Khaja, Abdul Rahman Saleh, Ali Qassem and Khatoun Lafi Ahmad, the Association for the Sake of Palestinians in Syria said. The statement said the Husseiniyeh and Khan Danon refugee camps were being "showered with missiles," leaving residents without electricity, food and gas. The group also said Syrian security forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad detained local Fatah leader Abu Nasser Qablawi in the Husseiniyeh camp for "helping the injured and taking them to nearby clinics," the statement read. One Palestinian is also missing from the Yarmouk refugee camp after not returning from work, the statement said, concerned he may possibly have been detained by Syrian forces. 'theaters of war' The report follows a statement issues by UNRWA's commissioner general said Sunday, describing the camps as "theaters of war." "Killings, kidnappings, poverty, destruction and fear have become part of daily life," Filippo Grandi said Sunday during a meeting of stakeholders in Amman. 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. "Even Egypt now hosts many Palestine refugees from Syria, and some have reached Gaza," Grandi said. "The distress of Palestine refugees in Syria and displaced from Syria has given the lack of progress in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process an added, and very stark dimension. The loss of camps in Syria and the uncertainty that it has wrought, are suffered by all, just as the bombardments in Gaza." In March, the Action Group for Palestinians of Syria said that over 1,000 Palestinians have been killed in the ongoing Syria conflict, with that number thought to have increased significantly since then.