MESOP SOLIDARITY : UNRWA reaches Yarmouk with aid, condemns killings of Palestinian children

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) announced Saturday that it had successfully delivered food parcels to nearly 500 families in southern Damascus’s Yarmouk camp, marking the third consecutive day of deliveries after a 15 day suspension due to fighting in the predominantly Palestinian area.

The resumption of aid began last Thursday, four days after UNRWA spokesman Chris Gunness warned that UN food aid in Yarmouk had completely run out, leading to widespread reports of malnutrition amongst a civilian population estimated at over 20,000.  Saturday’s delivery brings the total number of aid delivered in Yarmouk to 5,579 food parcels over the last two months, with each food parcel feeding an average family for up to ten days. Also on Saturday, UNRWA issued a statement condemning the deaths of three Palestinian children between ages seven and 11 in March and April; two were killed in Homs and one in Daraa, with one struck in the head by a stray bullet and two killed by explosions.