Syrian rebels under attack, camp bombed

More than two-thirds of the nearly 150,000 Palestinian residents of Yarmouk have left the camp since Friday, when the fighting flared up, according to the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees.

They either have sought shelter in the outskirts of the camp, in other parts of Damascus or other Syrian cities or have headed to the Syria-Lebanon border, said Sami Mshasha, an UNRWA spokesman.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said Wednesday he had asked U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon to help in bringing the Palestinian refugees in Syria to the Palestinian territories. This could include the West Bank, where Mr. Abbas governs, or the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.

The statement said there are 450,000 Palestinian refugees living in 10 camps in Syria. Mr. Abbas said Yarmouk, which is the biggest camp, “has been through a difficult situation due to the escalating conflict in Syria.”

Any movement of refugees into the West Bank would need the consent of Israel. The Israeli Foreign Ministry had no comment.

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.