UN urges restraint after Israeli soldiers kill 2 Palestinians

Ma'an -- UN envoy Robert Serry on Monday urged Israeli authorities to exercise restraint after soldiers killed two Palestinians in a dawn raid on a refugee camp near Ramallah.

The UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East said he was "deeply concerned" by the killings and urged Israeli authorities "to exercise maximum restraint and thoroughly investigate the incident, a statement said.

Serry also emphasized the need for calm "from all sides."

Mutasim Issa Udwan, 22, and Ali Khalifa, 23, were killed by soldiers who entered Qalandiya refugee camp in what the army said was a "routine arrest procedure."

Witnesses told Ma'an that confrontations erupted as the troops ransacked homes. Udwan was shot in the head and Khalifa sustained a gun shot wound to the stomach when Israeli forces opened fire indiscriminately, residents said.

An Israeli army spokeswoman said forces opened fire after five soldiers were injured by stones.

Hours after the deaths, thousands of mourners packed into Qalandiya for the funerals of the two men.

Palestinian officials harshly criticized the Israeli military and called for an immediate investigation.

"Residents of Qalandiya camp were preparing themselves for the first day of Ramadan and going to the dawn prayers, when they were met by Israeli forces which violently stormed the camp to conduct illegal arrests and kidnapping of residents," a statement by the PA Government Media Center said.

"Yesterday, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu sent a message of greetings to the Arab and Muslim world on the start of the holy month of Ramadan. His greetings were shortly followed by a deadly attack against Palestinians."

President Mahmoud Abbas' office denounced the deadly operation, his spokesman said.

Nabil Abu Rudeina told government media that the raid amounted to "an Israeli attempt to escalate things ahead of September," when the PLO plans to seek recognition of statehood from the United Nations.


AFP contributed to this report