Summary A plan is under discussion is to put the Yarmuk refugee camp in the south of the Syrian capital.
BEIRUT: Talks were under way on Wednesday aimed at removing both rebel and pro-government fighters from a Damascus Palestinian refugee camp after deadly clashes, a Palestinian relief official told AFP.
Under discussion is a plan to put the Yarmuk refugee camp in the south of the Syrian capital under the control of "neutral" Palestinian officials.
At least half of the camp s population of more than 112,000 have fled in recent days in the face of deadly clashes between pro- and anti-Damascus groups.
Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas on Wednesday urged the international community to help Palestinian refugees fleeing the fighting to enter the West Bank or Gaza.
Palestinians have been divided over the 21-month uprising against the rule of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who is from the Alawite offshoot of Shiite Islam but whose regime has long given shelter to hardline militant factions.
According to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, there are 486,000 Palestine refugees living in nine official and three unofficial camps across Syria.
Until last weekend, Yarmuk had provided refuge for hundreds of Syrian families forced to flee their strife-torn towns and cities for the capital.
But on Sunday, warplanes waged their first air strike on Yarmuk since the start of Syria s conflict, killing at least eight civilians. Violence has since raged in the camp.
Backed by anti-regime Palestinian fighters, rebels have expelled most pro-Assad fighters from Yarmuk, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
Many thousands of Palestinians fleeing Yarmuk have been unable to afford emergency accommodation. They have instead slept in the open in Damascus parks and squares.
According to the Lebanese authorities, some 2,200 Palestinians have crossed the border from Syria since Saturday.
Many hundreds waited to cross the border into Lebanon on Wednesday, most of them women, children and elderly people, an AFP photographer said.
Meanwhile, Syrian government forces are carrying out a broad offensive against rebels in the suburbs of Damascus, the state media said Wednesday, as the United Nations appealed for a billion dollars to support rising numbers of Syrian refugees.
The state-run SANA news agency said that troops have killed "scores of terrorists" the government term for the rebels fighting to topple President Bashar Assad.
The suburbs of the Syrian capital have been opposition strongholds since the uprising started in March 2011. The rebels have recently made significant advances in in the area, capturing air bases and military installation and clashing with a pro-government Palestinian group for control of the Yarmouk refugee camp, located in the capital s southern part.
SANA said Wednesday s fighting was taking place in the capital s southern outskirts of Daraya, Harasta, Douma and Hajar Aswad, an area neighboring Yarmouk.
On Tuesday, Syrian fighter jets bombed Yarmouk for the second time in a week, sending thousands fleeing from the camp. There were no reports on casualties from those strikes. Similar airstrikes on Sunday killed at least eight people in Yarmouk, activists said.
The rebel offensive in the camp, which began Friday, is aimed at driving out pro-government Palestinian gunmen of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command.
