‘Almost 2,000 Palestinians have died in

Syrian war’

by Khaled Abu Toameh, jpost.com, Dec. 19, 2013

Palestinians living in harsh conditions in refugee camps; Syrian army prevents food, medicine from reaching camps.

A total of 1,807 Palestinians have been killed in Syria since the beginning of the violence nearly three years ago, a Palestinian group announced on Wednesday.

Palestinians were living in extremely harsh conditions because the Syrian army was besieging their camps, the Working Group for Palestinians in Syria said.

The group pointed out that Yarmuk refugee camp near Damascus has been under siege for 156 days. It said the Syrian army was preventing food and medicine supplies from reaching the camp residents, who were facing a “humanitarian catastrophe.”

Other refugee camps such as Khan Dannun and Sayeda Zeinab also face severe shortages in food, medicine and fuel.

About 500,000 Palestinians lived in Syria until the beginning of the civil war. Tens of thousands fled to Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt and Turkey in the past three years, according to Palestinian sources.

Last week, the Egyptian authorities released from prison 100 Palestinians who had fled from Syria. Another 290 Palestinian refugees are still being held in detention by the Egyptian authorities, the sources said.