RAMALLAH, West Bank -- Clashes between Israeli forces and Palestinian demonstrators erupted in a West Bank refugee camp before dawn Monday after Israeli forces arrived to demolish the home of a Palestinian militant, leaving two Palestinians dead.
It was the latest bloodshed in a two-month wave of violence between Israelis and Palestinians.
During the unrest, Israel recently renewed a policy of demolishing homes belonging to Palestinians accused in deadly attacks. Israel said the policy deters attacks, but critics said the tactic amounts to collective punishment.
In Monday's violence, the Israeli military said troops entered the Qalandiya refugee camp on the outskirts of Jerusalem to demolish the home of Muhammad Abu Shaheen, a Palestinian who the army said fatally shot an Israeli motorist in the West Bank this summer. Abu Shaheen is now in an Israeli prison.
Residents said that up to 1,000 soldiers entered the camp and blocked its entrances.
After the troops arrived, hundreds of Palestinians gathered and many threw firebombs and rocks as the Israeli forces demolished the home. Troops then fired rubber bullets, tear gas and stun grenades to disperse the protesters, the military said.
"During the activity, suspects opened fire at the forces," the military said in a statement, referring to the raid at the camp. "In response to the immediate danger, forces fired towards the attackers."
The military said three people had been shot in the raid, adding that hundreds of Palestinians had clashed with the soldiers and thrown firebombs, improvised explosive devices and rocks at them.
The Palestinians who were killed were identified as Laith Manasra, 21, and Ahmad Abu al-Aish, 28. Witnesses said that a third Palestinian who had been critically wounded was removed from a Palestinian ambulance by Israeli soldiers, who detained him and transferred him to Israeli custody.
Bassam Manasra, 24, a mechanic and the cousin of Laith Manasra, said troops entered the camp at 2 a.m.
"The youths went out and began to clash with them in an attempt to stop them from entering further into the camp," he said.
Manasra said the forces had spread into every alley of the crowded camp and had placed snipers on rooftops. He said he had heard yelling and the sound of automatic gunfire, then heard reports that Abu al-Aish had been exchanging fire with the soldiers and was fatally shot.
Manasra said he then went onto his veranda and saw his cousin, Laith, standing on the roof opposite. He said he heard shots and saw Laith drop to the ground.
Laith had only been watching the clashes and had not been taking part when he was shot, he continued, and he had not been armed. Manasra said he and other cousins put Laith, who was still breathing, in a car, but that soldiers blocked the alley, preventing them from leaving for the hospital until the soldiers had withdrawn from the camp. By then, he said, Laith had died.
The mother of Abu Shaheen, whose home was destroyed, said that more than a dozen soldiers came to the house around 2:15 a.m. and told those inside to leave and wait at a soccer field.
Two hours later, she said, "I heard a big blast and knew that my house had been destroyed. Shortly after, they withdrew from the camp, leaving my home in rubble."
After noon prayer on Monday, thousands of Palestinians joined the funeral march to the camp cemetery with the two bodies of those killed the night before. Participants were flying the flags of Fatah; of Hamas, the Islamic militant group; and the Palestinian flag.
After the burials, hundreds of Palestinians violently clashed with Israeli forces at the nearby military checkpoint. The Israeli forces responded with tear gas and rubber bullets.
The current round of violence broke out mid-September at Jerusalem's most sensitive holy site and quickly spread to the West Bank, Israeli cities and the Gaza border. Israel said the violence is the result of Palestinian incitement, while Palestinians said it stems from frustration of nearly half a century of Israeli occupation.
Palestinian attacks, mainly stabbings, have killed 14 Israelis, and at least 83 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire, including 51 Israel said were involved in assaults. The rest were killed in clashes with security forces.
Information for this article was contributed by Mohammed Daraghmeh and Daniel Estrin of The Associated Press and by Rami Nazzal and Isabel Kershner of The New York Times.
A Section on 11/17/2015