Palestinians anxiously wait to return to Lebanon

DAMASCUS - On an ordinary August afternoon, the Al-Quds school on the outskirts of Damascus would be empty, its pupils enjoying their summer break. But this year it is playing host to dozens of Palestinian families who fled the conflict in Lebanon.

As thousands of Lebanese refugees return home from Syria, the Palestinians here remain cautious.

"We will wait a few days to see what the situation is. It's too early to go back yet," said Fadi Hussein Khalil, who is staying at Al-Quds with 22 members of his extended family.

The conflict began on 12 July after the armed wing of the political party Hezbollah captured two Israeli soldiers, and Israel responded a large-scale offensive and a blockade. With a United Nations-brokered ceasefire in place since Monday morning, several hundred thousand Lebanese refugees have been streaming back to their homes in Lebanon.

An estimated 1,740 Palestinians living in Lebanon crossed the border to Syria to escape the fighting, and some 400 have returned to Lebanon so far, according to Lina Meri, deputy officer of the UN Relief Works Agency (UNRWA) in the Damascus area.

"In the beginning, some refugees were sheltered in private houses," said Meri. "But as the war went on, and they realised they needed longer term accommodation, they came to the schools."

UNRWA, an agency dedicated entirely to aid Palestinians, helps to support the estimated 440,000 Palestinian refugees normally resident in Syria. UNRWA runs schools for the Palestinian community and has agreed to open them to house refugees.

Read More
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article5566.shtml