PLO calls for Palestinian camp 'neutrality'

Member of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) Zakaria al-Agha has blamed both sides in the Syrian conflict for continuing bloodshed inside Palestinian refugee camps. Al-Agha, who heads the PLO’s Department of Refugee Affairs, claimed his organisation would not tolerate the ongoing plight of displaced persons. “Targeting the Palestinian Sbeineh camp near Damascus, which led to the deaths of 12 refugees, injuring 25 and displacing dozens more, is something we reject and condemn,” al-Agha said in a press statement on Monday. The PLO chief meanwhile claimed the Syrian conflict had now killed more than 1000 Palestinians, as well as wounding and displacing tens of thousands more. "Even those refugees who stayed in the camps are living in very difficult conditions due to their inability to move in and out,” he said. Camp conditions were “tragic and painful,” al-Agha added, pointing to the plight of those still living inside Damascus’ Yarmouk camp. “We call on all parties in the conflict to neutralise these camps, but some are looking to make these camps part of the conflict for political purposes,” al-Agha claimed.