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PLO condemns IS attacks on refugee camp in Syria

Xinhua, April 2, 2015 Adjust font size:

The Islamic State (IS) militant group's seizure of the southern part of Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp in south of the Syrian capital Damascus is a terrorist act, Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) said on Thursday.

"The attacks by the IS terrorist group against Yarmouk refugee camp is an attempt to make the camp a battle field once again," the PLO said in a press release.

The PLO, an umbrella group for most of Palestinian factions including ruling Fatah party, said the refugees will always be the ones who pay the price for the military conflict in the camp.

The Organization urged all the Palestinians to unite in order to defy this attack and keep the camp and its resident secure and safe.

Humanitarian aid provided by international organization, specifically the United Nations Relief and Work Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), must be intensified, the PLO reiterated.

Earlier in the day, UNRWA said it is extremely concerned about the safety of Syrian and Palestinian civilians in the Palestinian refugee camp of Yarmouk in Damascus, where intensive armed conflict has been ongoing between armed groups present in the area.

UNRWA also demanded from all parties respect for and compliance with their obligations to ensure the protection of civilians in Yarmouk, urging for an end to the fighting and a return to conditions that will enable its staff to support and assist Yarmouk's civilians.

On Wednesday, IS militants advanced into the Yarmouk Camp from the nearby district of Hajar al-Asawad, located south of the camp, capturing a number of main streets south of the camp as well as the Palestine Hospital.

The Yarmouk camp is a large district in southern Damascus. Among its one million residents, 170,000 are Palestinian. Most of them fled to Syria in 1948 following the establishment of the Israeli state. Endit