RAMALLAH, May 23, 2018 (WAFA) – Yarmouk camp located on the outskirts of Damascus, is currently empty of Palestinian refugees, Anwar Abdul Hadi, a Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) official based in Syria, said on Wednesday.

He told Voice of Palestine radio that between 200 to 300 refugees who had remained in the camp had left it when the Syrian army launched it recent assault on the remnants of the Islamic State‘s terrorists who were hiding in the refugee camp.

No Palestinian refugee is currently in the camp, he said.

Abdul Hadi said several years of war in Syria had left extensive damage to the buildings and the infrastructure in Yarmouk refugee camp, one of the biggest refugee camps, stressing that discussion is underway between the Syrian government and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which is in charge of the Palestinian refugee camps in the Middle East, on the rebuilding process.

He said President Mahmoud Abbas issued instructions to quickly rebuild all the camps in Syria, particularly Yarmouk camp, since they symbolize the right of return for the Palestinian refugees.

M.K.