Democratic Palestine : 21 (ص 31)
غرض
- عنوان
- Democratic Palestine : 21 (ص 31)
- المحتوى
-
The Camp War Continues
On December 27th, as this article was
being written, fighting between Amal
and the Palestinians in Lebanon was
minimal «due to weather conditions,»
as one news agency put it. Still, this
dirty war did not stop. For over a year
and a half, it has continued, halting
occasionally as a result of a ceasefire
agreement soon to be broken by the
Amal gangs. Occasionally also, a
thunderstorm temporarily halted the
battles. Although this meant a rest
period, it was little consolation since
the besieged Palestinians in the camps
had to suffer from the heavy rain in
their devastated houses.
In the previous issue of Democratic
Palestine, a full report was given of this
ongoing dirty war against Palestinian
presence, armed or otherwise, in
Lebanon. Unfortunately, we find our-
selves writing once again about this war
of the camps. With the escalation of
attack and siege by Amal and the sec-
tarian Lebanese Army, the war moved
northwards to Beirut, hitting Shatila
and Burj Al Barajneh camps. This is a
semi-daily account of the situation
facing our people and fighters, projec-
ting the severity of the dirty war.
SHATILA CAMP
Aggression intensified ‘against Sha-
tila after November 26th. It was
obvious that Amal, along with the 6th
and Ist brigades of the Lebanese Army,
was determined to bring down Shatila,
no matter the cost. From November
29th, there was heavy fighting around
the camp. Amal and the 6th and Ist
brigades intensified their attempts to
destroy the camp entirely, using all the
Palestinian families taking refuge in Mar Elias camp
weapons in their arsenal: artillery,
rockets, mortars, tanks, heavy machine
guns, fire bombs, explosives, sniping
rifles, etc. The Palestinian defenders
fiercely resisted many attempts to storm
the camp. Buildings inside and sur-
rounding the camp were systematically
targeted for destruction. That day, the
attackers lost three tanks, two T-54s
and one T-68.
On November 30th, the destructive
shelling continued and more troops and
tanks were concentrated around the
camp. It was reported that 1,500
Lebanese Army soldiers and 400 Amal
fighters were concentrated around the
camp. This figure shows that the
Lebanese Army with its heavy equip-
ment, especially tanks and artillery, is
the principal force besieging the camp.
On December Ist, Amal and the
Lebanese Army attempted to storm
Shatila several times, but in vain. The
officers of the two Lebanese Army
brigades had to calm their soldiers by
claiming that the camp had fallen mili-
tarily speaking, and that it would only
take three or four days to finish the job.
This was necessary because the army’s
losses were high, and the soldiers’
morale low. That day the attackers lost
four tanks. Needless to say, destruction
in the camp was extensive due to the
continuous shelling.
A message sent by the Popular
Committee of Shatila described the
situation inside the camp as follows:
«The destruction of buildings conti-
nues; 60% of the camp has been des-
troyed in one week; 4,000 people inside
are facing a housing problem. Most of
the food supply is used up. What is
available in the stocks of the Popular
Committee and the resistance organi-
zations is not enough. Water pipes are
broken; there is no electricity except
that from a few small generators. We
face a problem with medicine which is
most needed at this moment, especially
with the large number of wounded
people. The artillery, rocket and mortar
shelling continues, along with heavy
machine gun firing, against the
camp...»
From December 4th until 9th, artil-
lery and rocket shelling continued,
along with heavy and light machine
gunning; 70% of the camp is destroyed.
Attempts to storm the camp continued,
but were fiercely resisted, forcing the
Victims of the Shweifat massacre - هو جزء من
- Democratic Palestine : 21
- تاريخ
- يناير ١٩٨٧
- المنشئ
- الجبهة الشعبية لتحرير فلسطين
Contribute
Not viewed