Palestine+Refugee+Camp

Vahr al-Bared (Arabic: JjL-t/ //j£,// literally: Cold River) Is a Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon, //16// km from the city of Tripoli. Some 30.000 displaced Palestinians and their descendants live in and around the camp, ^vhich //was// named after the river that runs south of the camp. The Lebanese Army is banned from entering all Palestinian camps under the 1969 Cairo Agreement. The camp was established in December 1949 by the //League// of Red Cross Societies in order to accommodate the Palestinian refugees suffering from the difficult winter conditions in the Beqa'a valley and the suburbs of Tripoli. The camp was established outside any major Lebanese towns or settlements, which left Nahr al-Bared Camp (NBC) more isolated from Lebanese society than many of the other camps in Lebanon. late in the night of Saturday 19th May 2007, a building was surrounded by Lebanese Internal Security Forces (ISF) in which a group of Fatah al-Islam militants accused of -aking part in a bank robbery earlier that day were hiding, The ISF attacked the building early on Sunday 20th May 2007, unleashing a day long battle between the JSF and Fatah zl-Islam militants on 200 Street, Tripoli. As a response, members of Fatah al-Islam in Xahr al-Bared Camp (16 km from Tripoli) attacked an army checkpoint, killing several soldiers in their sleep. The army immediately responded by shelling the camp. Ehe camp has been at the centre of the fighting between the Lebanese Army and Fatah al- slam. It has sustained heavy shelling while under siege. Most of the inhabitants fled to k nearby Beddawi Palestinian refugee camp or further south to Tripoli, Beirut and aida. The last civilians (25 women and //38// children, the families of Fatah al-Islam snibers) were evacuated from the camp on Friday 24th August.