Thousands flee fighting as army accused of shelling relief convoy

Report, Electronic Lebanon, 23 May 2007

"BEDDAWI, 23 May 2007 (IRIN) - At least 10,000 Palestinians from Nahr al-Bared refugee camp in northern Lebanon have fled to neighbouring Beddawi camp following a lull in fighting between the Lebanese army and Islamist militants, according to an official in one of the schools over-run with an influx of displaced people.

"We estimate 10,000 people have entered Beddawi camp since late afternoon yesterday [Tuesday]," Nadar Abdel Ghani, head teacher at Kawkab School in Beddawi camp, told IRIN. "We have around 1,500 people in each of our three schools here and the rest are staying with families in the camp, sometimes 40 people to a room.".....

However, many camp residents say tank and artillery fire has been indiscriminate.

More than 80 people have been killed in the fighting, according to news agencies, including 22 militants and 32 soldiers. Camp residents and doctors say there are dozens of dead civilians.

Late on Wednesday, a source in the Lebanese Ministry of Defence told IRIN the army was planning a possible attack to flush out remaining Fatah al-Islam fighters after receiving a green light to go into the camp from Sultan Abul Aynain, Fatah's chief in Lebanon. Fatah, a major Palestinian political party, is the largest Palestinian faction inside Nahr al-Bared and a secular rival to Fatah al-Islam. "The plan is to evacuate as many civilians as we can before attacking the camp in a few hours," said the source, who requested anonymity as he was not authorised to speak to the media. The claim has not been officially confirmed, but if Lebanese forces do enter Nahr al-Bared, it will break a decades-old precedent and raise the possibility of the army exerting security control inside Lebanon's 11 other refugee camps.....

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on Wednesday distributed food parcels to last five days for 3,000 people in Kawkab School, where displaced people -- the majority women, children and infants -- are living in filthy conditions.....

On Tuesday, a UNRWA convoy reportedly came under fire from positions held by the Lebanese army, after moving only a few hundred metres into the camp. The army appeared to be targeting Fatah al-Islam positions close to the convoy.....

Nadim Houry, a researcher for NGO Human Rights Watch, interviewed families in Kawkab School and said he had heard the same story and confirmed the names of the dead men. Houry said the Lebanese army had failed to observe international humanitarian law in its bombardment of civilian areas in the camp......

"We do not believe the army directly targeted civilians, but in its use of indiscriminate shelling, which has a disproportionate affect on civilians to combatants, the army has failed under its obligations to humanitarian law," Houry told IRIN. "We are also concerned that the army failed to provide safe corridors for the evacuation of civilians and the delivery of aid. It has taken three days for this to happen."

Hoda al-Turk, a spokeswoman for UNRWA, confirmed that its convoy had come under fire yesterday and that three trucks had been hit, rendering them disabled and abandoned in the camp. Turk said UNRWA had contacted the concerned parties and that the Lebanese army had denied firing on the convoy.....

The PRC reported unrestricted access to the camp since Wednesday morning, according to Dr Yousef Assad of Safad Hospital in Bedawi camp. A total of 130 civilians were evacuated to Safad Hospital. They suffered severe injuries as well as shock with 12 undergoing emergency surgery, said Dr Assad. The LRC remains on the edge of the camp ferrying the wounded to local hospitals......"