Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas this week urged Syrian rebels and soldiers to spare the Palestinian population living in the country and to keep them out of the civil war that has been raging in Syria for nearly two years. Saudi news outlet Al-Arabiya quoted Abbas calling for "All parties involved in the Syrian conflict to refrain from harming our [Palestinian] people in the refugee camps. Don't drag them into your fighting." Abbas reportedly said he was very concerned that Palestinians in Syria were being forced into Syria's conflict and that it must be prevented. The PA president's statements come after the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said fighter jets carried out six airstrikes in the Hajar Aswad area and the neighboring Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp, killing at least eight and wounding dozens. Other reports suggested that 25 people were killed while taking shelter in a mosque. Palestinian factions condemned the bombing and leveled harsh criticism of the Syrian regime. "We condemn in the strongest terms the crime of Assad's regime in Yarmouk refugee camp, and call on all international parties, including the states that still back this regime, to act immediately and stop these massacres against Syrians and Palestinians in Syria," Palestine Liberation Organization official Yasser Abed Rabbo told The Associated Press. Hamas officials also responded harshly to the attack. Moussa Abu Marzouk, considered the second highest ranking official in Hamas, demanded that all Palestinians and Syrian civilians to be kept out of the fighting. Hamas politburo member Izzat al-Rishak also condemned the attack and went as far as to call for the immediate removal of Assad from power. The Palestinians are divided over the crisis in Syria. When the unrest began in March 2011, the half-million-strong community tried to stay on the sidelines. A few groups with long-standing ties to the regime are fighting on the government side, including the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command. Anwar Rajja, a Damascus-based spokesman for the PFLP-GC told AP that his group is fighting "terrorists," who have come to the camp from the front lines in the suburbs of Damascus. The Syrian regime and state media refer to the rebels as terrorists.
VIdeo: Destruction at the Yarmouk refugee camp in Syria
(Credit: Reuters)
At least three people were killed in the clashes between rebels and gunmen loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad that followed the airstrike, the Observatory's President Rami Abdul-Rahman said.
