Palestinian refugees in Syria flee after regime assault

[oberliner]

Tens of thousands of Palestinian refugees have fled the Yarmouk refugee camp near Damascus over the past five days in the wake of the Syrian air force bombardment. An observer on the ground has told FRANCE 24 about the suffering and panic among the refugees, many of whom are now homeless.

Since July, Yarmouk has become an area of strategic importance in the battle between government forces and the rebels of the Free Syrian Army (FSA). Tension increased in October when soldiers from the FSA fought militia members from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – General Command (PFLP – GC), a small armed group financed by the Syrian government. On December 18, the FSA rebels announced that they had taken control of the Yarmouk camp, but fighting with the regular army has continued since then. The ongoing fighting has caused more than half of the camp’s residents to flee.

The Yarmouk camp, which was established back in 1957, is one of the largest Palestinian refugee camps in Syria. Located 8 kilometres south of the Damascus city centre, the camp is spread out over a surface area measuring 2 square kilometres and is home to more than 148,000 people, according to the UNHCR. The camp’s inhabitants are not only Palestinian; a number of Syrians of modest means also live in the camp.

More than 100,000 refugees have fled the camp. However, some refugees started to return to the Yarmouk camp on Thursday despite sporadic shelling.

http://observers.france24.com/content/20121220-palestinian-refugees-syria-yarmouk-camp

[zellie]

1. But Israel is soooo unfair to the palestinians.

nt

[azurnoir]

2. Palestinians begin returning to Yarmouk refugee camp in Syria (+video)

Refugees have started returning to the Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp in Syria after fighting between rebels and government-allied forces sent them fleeing, but the status of the Palestinian refugees, along with hundreds of thousands of others displaced by the Syrian conflict, remains a top concern for observers outside the country.

The Associated Press reports that, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, "hundreds of people have returned" to Yarmouk after fighting between rebels and forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad drove out as many as two-thirds of the camp's 150,000 residents by United Nations estimates.

The battle at Yarmouk, located in southern Damascus, began Dec. 14, as pro-Assad Palestinian fighters attacked anti-Assad Palestinian rebels based in the camp. Al Jazeera English reported yesterday that although Syrian troops did not participate in the fighting within the camp, they provided support to the pro-Assad fighters, cutting off the camp from the outside and launching air strikes into the camp, which reportedly killed at least eight people on Dec. 16.

http://www.csmonitor.com/World/terrorism-security/2012/1220/Palestinians-begin-returning-to-Yarmouk-refugee-camp-in-Syria-video

[Scootaloo]

3. Yes, in fact it is.

Do you think wrongdoing by Syria absolves Israel of wrongdoing? No, it just makes them both abusers of Palestinians.

[LeftishBrit]

4. Unfortunately..

more than one country can be unfair to the Palestinians. And lots are.

[LeftishBrit]

6. Horrible. The Syrian government is truly vile.

[King_David]

7. Why doesn't Hamas , IJ ,Al Aqsa use their weapons,

rockets and suicide vests to help their people out here?

Or even Hezbollah.