By Max Bartels 

Impunity Watch Reporter, The Middle East 

 

Damascus, Syria

This week ISIS fighters attacked and seized a large portion of the Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp outside of Damascus in Syria. The camp has been a humanitarian issue for years, when fighting in Syria broke out many groups such as Hamas supported Sunni rebels efforts to topple Assad’s government. Prior to ISIS involvement Assad limited food and aid coming into the camp. Over the last four years the camp has been virtually destroyed by the conflict between various factions. Most recently, ISIS has entered the fight for the camp with the intention of using it as a platform for further advances into the South of Syria and into Damascus itself.

ISIS has overrun the Palestinian militia group called Aknaf Beit al-Maqdis, a group aligned with Hamas to control an estimated 70 percent of the camp. It is reported that ISIS has support from one of its chief rivals in Syria, the al-Qaeda affiliated al-Nusra front. Civilians left in the camp are caught in the crossfire between ISIS, its allies and various Palestinian rebel factions. Prior to the fighting in Syria the camp composed of about 150,000 Palestinian refugees, now that number has been reduced to just 18,000. 2,000 residents were evacuated during the latest outbreak of fighting by the U.N. and other international aid groups.

The humanitarian situation in Yarmouk is concerning. The camp has no water or power and the residents face constant shelling from forces on all sides. Aid has been unable to enter the camp because of the intense shelling and fighting since ISIS has entered the fold. In response to the worsening humanitarian situation the International Red Cross, among other agencies have called for all sides and all factions to allow aid to enter the camp immediately and for these agencies to be allowed to evacuate as many of the estimated 18,00 civilians still trapped inside the camp as possible.

Palestinian leaders in the West Bank have reported that they have come to an agreement with Assad’s government for the Syrian army to take military action to push ISIS out of the camp. Officials in the West Bank have stated clear support for the Syrian government and their effort to push ISIS out of Yarmouk however; there are Palestinian groups in the camp who have opposed Assad’s government since the beginning of the conflict. As of now it is unclear whether all the Palestinian factions in Yarmouk support the deal  between the West Bank and Assad for a Syrian military offensive to retake the camp.

For more information, please see: 

BBC News — Syria Conflict: Huge Suffering in Yarmouk, Activist Says — 8 April, 2015

Al Jazeera America — ISIL Takeover of Yarmouk a “Siege Within a Siege” — 8 April, 2015 

Reuters — PLO Backs Syrian Army Drive to Regain Yarmouk Camp From Militants — 9 April, 2015

Yahoo News — Palestinian Envoy: “Military Option Agreed for Syria Camp — 9 April, 2015