The Palestinian president says he is ready to take in Palestinian refugees fleeing Syria [2]'s civil war.
Mahmoud Abbas says he has asked U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon to help in bringing the refugees to the Palestinian territories. This could include the West Bank, where Abbas governs, or the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.
The request was reported Wednesday by the official Wafa news agency. It follows an attack by Syrian warplanes against a Palestinian refugee camp in Damascus.
The statement says there are 450,000 Palestinian refugees living in 10 camps in Syria [2]. Abbas says the biggest camp, Yarmouk, "has been through a difficult situation due to the escalating conflict in Syria [2]."
Any movement of refugees into the West Bank would need the consent of Israel.
Israel's Foreign Ministry had no comment.
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