Roundup: Palestinians against military action in Syria's Yarmouk refugee camp

Although Palestinians are deeply concerned over the ongoing fighting in the Palestinian refugee camp of Yarmouk, south of the Syrian capital Damascus, they reject resorting to a military option to solve the crisis there.

They opposed a Syrian proposal to bomb the refugee camp and destroy it in order to get rid of the Islamic State (IS) militias that stormed the camp two weeks ago.

The military option is rejected by the Palestinians, and all parties, the Palestinians and the Syrians, have to work on how to protect the civilians in the refugee camp and save their lives, Samir Awad, a Ramallah-based political analyst and writer, told Xinhua over the phone.

However, Awad proposed that if there are still armed Palestinian groups in the camp and have the power to fight the IS.

"Why not, because the situation there cannot wait for more diplomatic contacts and the people there are getting killed or displaced," he said.

The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) said in an emailed press statement that it opposes any military conflict in Yarmouk and expressed its rejection of involving the Palestinian refugees into the internal Syrian conflicts, adding "the PLO is against being part in this conflict."

"The PLO will work together in order to end all hostilities and violence actions in coordination with all parties, mainly the United Nations and other groups which are concerned not to drag the refugee camp to more destructions and tragedies," said the PLO statement.

Even Islamist Hamas movement and Islamic Jihad voiced their rejection of the use of any military action in the refugee camp of Yarmouk.

"What happens in al-Yarmouk is a big crime committed by groups with no religion. It is a Zionists plan to get rid of the Palestinians everywhere," said Mohamed Abu Askar, a senior Hamas leader from northern Gaza Strip.

"But we are against being involved in any conflict against any country," he made it clear.

Salah el-Bardaweel, senior Hamas leader based in Gaza, said in a statement that the PLO made a mistake when it gave the Syrian army the green light to enter the refugee camp to fight the militants of the Islamic State militants. "

"This means that the PLO gave the green light to the Syrian army to destroy the refugee camp houses on the heads of its residents," said al-Bardaweel.

Earlier, Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah told reporters while he was visiting the West Bank city of Nablus that the Palestinian leadership exerts every possible effort to keep the refugee camp away from "more violence, more suffering and more tragedies." Endit