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Islamic State fighters have renewed their attack on the Yarmouk camp, home to thousands of displaced Palestinians, in southern Damascus.

The jihadists first entered the camp on Wednesday in an escalating battle with a local Palestinian militia, Aknaf Beit al-Maqdis. They were pushed out later that day by a leading rebel group, Jaish al-Islam, as well as the Palestinian faction. However, Palestinian officials and activists said Friday that the Islamic State members, attacking from the suburb of Hajar al-Aswad to the south, had re-entered and taken control of parts of Yarmouk.

See Syria Audio Analysis: Assessing Islamic State’s “Invasion of Damascus” — The Attack on Yarmouk Camp

Amid unconfirmed claims that the jihadists hold most of the camp, Aknaf Beit al-Maqdis militia announced late Friday that it is launching a concerted effort to retake the area. It claimed it had killed 40 Islamic State fighters in clashes.

Jaish al-Islam said it had formed a military “operations room” with two other militias, dedicated to ejecting the Islamic State from Yarmouk. It accused the Syrian regime of allowing supplies to reach the jihadists in Hajar al-Aswad while maintaining the siege of Yarmouk.”

“One hundred members of Aknaf in Yarmouk camp are besieged by ISIS on one side and the regime on the other, and their ammunition is running out. Their situation is truly tragic,” said Captain Islam Alloush on Twitter. “Now is not the time for being neutral.”

Accusations are also circulating that the Islamist faction Jabhat al-Nusra stood aside to let the Islamic State forces into the camp, or even that the group — whose leadership split with the Islamic State in 2013 — is fighting alongside the jihadists.

The initial statement of the Palestinian Network of Civil Society in Syria said the Islamic State “entered…with either complicity or tacit acceptance from Jabhat al-Nusra”. It criticized the Palestinian Authority and other Palestinian factions, the UN and other international bodies, and the Assad regime for “failing to to prevent and address the long-standing calamities in Yarmouk that have resulted in this most recent calamity”.

The violence has reportedly been compounded regime attacks on the area, apparently in support of pro-regime Palestinian militia such as the Palestinian Liberation Army and Fateh al-Intifada:

A local source says this morning’s rumor, spread by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, of Islamic State control of 90% of Yarmouk is probably exaggeration. However, “rebels and citizens…are outgunned by regime militias, Syrian Army, and Da’esh [Islamic State].” Some residents have been able to flee to the suburb of Yalda, but “the Islamic State are terrorizing them”.

Yarmouk was home to up to 200,000 people before the start of the Syrian conflict in March 2011, but only about 15,000 remain after years of attacks and a Syrian military siege that has severely restricted food, medicine, and supplies. A combination of rebel groups and Palestinian militia are in the camp.

This week’s fighting began when a leading Beit al-Maqdis member, the director of a center for education and training at a hospital in Yarmouk, was assassinated in the camp on Monday. Ten alleged jihadists were seized, prompting the Islamic State’s attack on Wednesday.

There are an estimated 1,000 Islamic State fighters in the southern Damascus suburbs.


2 Red Crescent Volunteers Killed in Idlib on Friday

The Red Cross reports that two Syrian Arab Red Crescent volunteers were killed on Friday in Idlib.

Ibrahim Eid from the Idlib branch and Mohammad Ahmad Kamouaa from the Maaret al-Nouman sub-branch, were killed as they retrieved dead bodies and prepared shelters for people fleeing attacks near the Red Crescent’s Idlib offices.

The Red Cross said 50 volunteers have been killed since the beginning of the Syrian conflict. They called on all sides to respect humanitarian work, guaranteeing the safety of aid workers and their unimpeded, immediate access to people in need across the country.

Video: Kafranbel Protesters Says “Historical” Iran Nuclear Agreement Ignores Victims in Syria

Protesters in Kafranbel in northwest Syria react to Thursday’s news of parameters for a nuclear agreement between Iran and the 5+1 Powers (see separate entry):

Video: Protest Against Looting After Rebel Victory at Nassib Checkpoint on Jordan Border

Residents of the Old City section of Daraa protest looting after this week’s rebel takeover of the Nassib border post, the regime’s last crossing with Jordan.

Reports indicate poor civilians and some fighters took goods from the post as regime forces withdrew towards Suweida Province in southeast Syria.

Rebels Claim Control of Part of Mastoumeh Camp, South of Idlib, While Regime Bombs the City

A week after their victory in Idlib in northwest Syria, rebels are claiming control of part of the regime camp at Mastoumeh, south of the city.

Both the Islamist faction Jabhat al-Nusra and the independent bloc Faylaq al-Sham claimed on Friday that their fighters are in “large parts” of the camp, a checkpoint with lots of troops and armor, near Mastoumeh village.

JABHAT AL-NUSRA MASTOUMEH

An attack on a regime position in the base with a “Hell Cannon”:

Meanwhile, the regime’s retaliatory bombing of Idlib has already reduced parts of the city to rubble:

Video: Aftermath of Regime Missile Attack on Opposition-Held Area in Aleppo on Friday

Aftermath of a regime missile on the Salaheddin area of Aleppo on Friday: