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Top of the Agenda: Syrian Conflict Draws in Palestinians
Syrian rebels took full control (al-Jazeera)
of the Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp on Monday after fighting raged
for days on the southern edge of President Bashar al-Assad's Damascus
power base and air raids killed at least eight people sheltering in a
mosque there. The battle came after heavy fighting broke out two weeks
ago between pro-Assad Palestinians (WSJ) and rebels supported by other Palestinian fighters. Meanwhile, Syria's prime minister--a top target of rebels--made a rare visit (ABC)
to the war-torn Aleppo in an attempt to shore up support for president
Bashar al-Assad's regime, which has faced a 21-month-old uprising in
which 40,000 people have been killed.
Analysis
"The latest violence, which has left at least a dozen Palestinians dead in Damascus, has drawn Syria's Palestinian population
more deeply into the country's conflict. It also poses a new challenge
to the government in Lebanon, whose stability has long been tested by
Palestinian refugees on its territory," write Nour Malas and Joshua
Mitnick for the Wall Street Journal.
"The
upsurge in violence prompted a rare intervention by Palestinian
President Mahmoud Abbas, who warned the Syrian administration not to
drag the 500,000-strong Palestinian population
in Syria into the now 21-month old civil war," writes Alistair Dawber for the Independent.
"UNRWA has repeatedly warned that if all parties to the Syrian armed conflict fail to fulfill their obligations to protect Palestine refugees
and respect their neutrality, the consequences would be devastating and
long lasting. The Agency has advocated to maintain the neutrality of
the 525,000 Palestine refugees in Syria and not implicate them in the
conflict," writes the Palestine News Network.
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