23/05/2007 09:00:00 ? GMT 

(Reuters) Palestinian women cry after being evacuated from Nahr al-Bared refugee camp
 

Thousands of people waving white flags continue to flee from the beleaguered Nahr al-Bared camp on Wednesday, after three days of ferocious fighting between rebels and Lebanese troops as truce holds. More than 68 people were killed in the clashes.

When fighting quieted after sunset on Tuesday, thousands of refugees took the chance to escape. They streamed out of the camps western gate on foot and in cars, pickups and minivans jammed with men, women and children.

"Thousands of refugees -- men, women and children -- started fleeing on foot or by car from Nahr al-Bared camp from early evening to take shelter in the nearby Beddawi camp," Hajj Rifaat, a Fatah official said late Tuesday.

“Nahr al-Bared residents have taken advantage of the truce in the fighting to escape the besieged and heavily bombarded camp," he added.

He also said that those who had fled the camp would be offered refuge in the 16,000-resident Beddawi camp, "but we will certainly be quickly overwhelmed if the flow of refugees continues at this rate.

"The problem will quickly become one of being able to provide extra food."

Hundreds of others escaped to the nearby city of Tripoli, were they were take in by local residents, who placed them in schools, according to AFP.

Spokesmen for both sides said the truce was still holding

According to army and Palestinian sources, at least 32 troops and 20 rebels were killed along with 19 Palestinian refugees and one Lebanese civilian in the fighting, which is the bloodiest internal conflict in
Lebanon since the civil war ended 17 years ago.

 Humanitarian aid under fire
A relief convoy came under fire, when a ceasefire abruptly shattered as UN workers tried to deliver food and water to residents.

palestinian civilians who approached the convoy seeking supplies were shot dead and others were injured, a UN official said.

"We don't know the source of the fire, and we had to leave the camp immediately," Hoda Samra, UN Relief and Works Agency spokeswoman said.

All the food and medical supplies were successfully offloaded, but the water was hit and spilled.

"We will try to deliver more supplies tomorrow," she said.

"Really really, the situation is so bad - no power, no food, no water," he said. "There is no hospital inside the camp. There are a lot of people injured, there are a lot of people dying," Ashraf Abu Khorj, who lives inside the camp, told BBC

"The smell of corpses was everywhere. There was no food, water or electricity and they were shooting at us," Dania Mahmoud Kassem, 21, a university student said

Another refugee, Ibrahim Issa Dawoud, said he, his wife and children had taken refuge in a mosque for three days, living off potato chips while Lebanese army tanks and artillery fired at rebels armed with mortars and automatic weapons.

"Even the cemetery was bombarded and the skeletons were uprooted," the 42-year-old said as he left with his family. "We thought this was our last chance because they will bulldoze the camp."

An appeal for a halt to the bloodshed
Javier Solana, EU foreign policy envoy who is in Beirut for talks with leaders on both sides of the political divide, appealed for a halt to the bloodshed.

"I am hoping very much for calm," he told a news conference following his meeting with Prime Minister Fuad Siniora.

However, the U.S. expressed its full support for Siniora, as it considered providing him extra military aid.

"Lebanon is doing the right thing to try to protect its population, to assert its sovereignty and so we are very supportive of the Siniora government and what it is trying to do," U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said in Washington.

 
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