Four Palestinians were killed on Thursday when Syrian forces shelled a Damascus refugee camp, sources told Ma’an.

Over 15 shells were fired by Syria’s military at Yarmouk refugee camp since Thursday morning, with four Palestinian family members killed in the attacks, sources in Syria said.

Ahmad Salameh, Loai Salameh, Muhammad Awad Salameh and Ali Awad Salameh were named by locals as those killed.

The latest attack is the first of its kind since Syrian fighter jets rocketed the Palestinian Yarmouk camp in Damascus on Dec. 16, killing at least 25 people sheltering in a mosque and prompting over 95 percent of the camp’s residents to flee.

More than 1,000 Palestinian refugees living in Syria crossed into Lebanon on Dec. 18, a source at the Lebanese border said, after Syrian rebels took control of Yarmouk.

The attack was condemned by the Palestinian Authority and international community.

In November, the PLO said that around 600 Palestinians had been killed in the Syrian conflict.

Syria hosts half a million Palestinian refugees, descendants of those admitted after the creation of Israel in 1948, and has always cast itself as a champion of the Palestinian struggle, sponsoring several guerrilla factions.

(Ma’an – www.maannews.org)